Green Valentine Daiquiri
by Piccylo
Summary: What does a mixture of alcohol, romance, violence, demons, drugs, and gutter humor make? Wellshaken, it's called Piccolo's limited love life!
1. Prologue: Holiday Sake

As much as I'd like it, I do not own Dragonball, nor am I affiliated with anyone involved with it. This story contains lots of almost anything that could be considered "offensive", including nudity, swearing, violence, and all that stuff. Remember that, 'cause I'm only saying it in this chapter.  
  
***This story is in first person POV of Piccolo (although the story is being told during DBZ, what Piccolo is narrating throughout most of the piece happened pre-DBZ ...but after DB- X.x). If you look around, you could probably find a lot of Piccolo romances on this site... but... none of them are planning to make a doujinshi out of it! Ha!!***  
  
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I was only loitering around outside, drinking from a bottle of sake (I didn't bother with a dish). Chi-Chi came back from the market and gave me an eye like I was some hoodlum and fretted as she passed by me. Like I gave a damn about what she thought about me. I had no intention to abide to the woman's bitching as her family did.  
I had come that morning to train with Goku and his son for the impending battle with the androids (which was now two years away) but today was some sort of holiday and Chi-chi would not allow them to spar. She did this on every holiday, as well as every birthday and anniversary. Humans and their sentimental rubbish...  
I only planned to finish that bottle, which I had been carrying for about a week, then be on my way. I used to carry a gourd with a harder mix of liquor that was often mistaken for water as it was colorless and odorless, but I have gotten out of that habit after Neil and I merged (that man's insufferably prudent).  
Goku greeted his wife and helped her with some of the things she was carrying. Gohan decided to come over to me and ask why I was standing idly amongst the trees, then began to chatter his usual childish nonsense.  
When the couple came back out to talk in the sun, Chi-Chi glared at me again and shouted, "Why do you have to bring this diligent here? How rude, just standing off to the side, drinking straight from the bottle like a barbarian!"  
I ignored her. I would leave as soon as I finished to my cave. I began to not feel like training today, so I was thinking about perhaps reading something. I had not read a book in a good while, so that could be enjoyable.  
Then my attention was grabbed by Gohan again, who tugged on my pant- leg. "Piccolo-san? May I ask you a question?"  
I blinked. A question, I thought. What could he possibly be allowed to ask on a holiday? "Sure," I said, starting to drink my sake again.  
"Did you ever fall in love with a girl?"  
I spat the alcohol from my mouth from the shock of the inquiry. His parents had heard the question as well, and began to chuckle. "From where in the seven levels of Hell did that question come from?!" I exclaimed.  
"It's Valentine's Day, Piccolo-san! Didn't you know?"  
"Valentine's Day...?" I looked up at the sky. I read the time and date from the positions of what I could see. It was indeed around February 14th, about 9:00 a.m.  
"Do you even know what Valentine's Day is?" Chi-Chi said in her usual tone.  
"St. Valentine's Day: It's origins date back to the early Roman Empire from a holiday called Lupercalia, which took place on February 15th. The holiday changed in honor St. Valentinus, who would marry the Roman soldiers despite the laws implicated by the emperor, Claudius II, and was executed for treason on February 14th, 269 A.D." I blurted in a half- attentive voice. I noticed that Chi-Chi had the look of astonishment plastered on her face, and that Goku had already walked off into the kitchen.  
"Piccolo-san, answer my question!" Gohan continued.  
I turned from him. For some reason, I couldn't answer that question as readily. Chi-Chi soon decided to order Goku to bring some food outside so that they can enjoy it in the sunlight. Before I could do anything in protest, I was dragged to their table.  
After they began eating, I could finally speak. "Gohan- I did, in fact, like a girl once..."  
"Really?" he said, looking up to me quizzically. I must have surprised Chi-Chi and Goku a bit, as they both went through a short choking period before giving their verbal reactions.  
"Hey, Piccolo! How come you didn't tell us about her earlier? You never tell us anything about your love-life!" Goku started up with his cheery attitude, "You think you know a guy!"  
"Well, Piccolo? Tell us! What is she like? Is she the same race as you?" Chi-Chi seemed to have found a different air to speak to me with rather suddenly.  
"Iie...she was human..." I began to talk more slowly, aware that I was becoming nervous from remembering her. "I haven't seen her for seven years, so I have no idea what she's like now."  
"Well, what was she like back then?" That woman took full charge of pressing the subject on me. "Did she feel the same towards you?"  
"I really don't know how far her feelings for me might have gone..." My face started getting hot.  
"Was she pretty?" Gohan stepped back in.  
"...Yeah. She was beautiful." I tried to take a breath to cool down, since my face felt like it was glowing with blood.  
"Was she strong?" Goku asked. Figures he'd ask something like that.  
I nodded. "As far as I could tell..."  
Chi-Chi seemed completely enthralled by the subject now. "Was she nice?"  
A sat for a moment in silence, then answered, "No."  
They all raised their eyebrows. "She was mean, then?" Chi-Chi continued.  
I shook my head. "She was evil. Perhaps the most evil woman I had ever met in my life."  
"Is that why you liked her?" Goku seemed puzzled (not exactly a rare emotion to see in him).  
Although I began to feel less flustered as I remembered her more and more, the questions were, in truth, beginning to piss me off. "I had several reasons," was all I would say before trying to drink from the sake I had left, which much to my dismay, wasn't much more than a sip. I cursed in reaction to running out. If Gohan hadn't have asked that question like that, I thought, I'd still have something to drink.  
Chi-Chi seemed to have figured out that I was tired of being examined and went back into the house in disappointment, pulling Goku in with her. Gohan remained for a while to ask a few more questions that I wouldn't give any direct answers to, then he was also called into the house.  
Finally! I walked off into the woods, not noticing that I wasn't going in the right direction at all, and I involuntarily sat down by a large tree and looked out at the sky again.  
Jin...  
My thoughts became engrossed with her image. She didn't cross my mind for years, yet I could picture her clearly, hear her voice, feel her touch... Memories flowed back easily and without flaw. I breathed deeply and let myself become enveloped. 


	2. Illusionary Chaser

Legal disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Well, even though no one has reviewed the first chapter yet, I'm putting in the next. I know that so far it hasn't been as offensive as promised, but it will pick up soon. Feel free to give any comments. R&R, or whatever, since this is my first story on this site. Really, it's my first fanfic that I stuck with in a long time. Enjoy.  
  
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Eight years ago, how perfectly I remember it. I felt so tired. Everything was beginning to feel futile. I had been training for a year after I was defeated by Son Goku, and I finally had burned myself out on it. I was only four in human years, but I stressed as hard as any adult could do. I took up drinking and smoking (I have done these things before and since, however not as rashly) and I couldn't find enough patience in me anymore to meditate.  
When I went to sleep one night, my dream slipped from being only my own imagination to becoming a median ground for an intruder. This intruder came before me with a grin full of malice. "Do you remember me?" He said in a dark chorded tone.  
"Of course I remember you," I said with a laugh,"You're the old geezer who comes to me, telling me whatever memory he failed to implant into my own head that he thinks is needed. You certainly do shabby work sometimes while under pressure, Father."  
He chuckled to this greeting. "My son," he crossed his arms, "I can see that your desires and excelling has become a tedious routine for you. Am I right?"  
"What clued that? The binge drinking? The close to overdose on what I smoke? Or just the fact that I seem overall discontented?"  
"I would say your being a smart-ass would be the revelation, but you were that while you were satisfied with your training. My son, you're goal to take over the world should not be lacking. If you wish, I could introduce the other grounds that you should be covering. I promise it will tear out that monotony... at least for a little while."  
I stared at him in a grimace. My father, Piccolo Daimaou, was an insidious man. The context of his offer had to include strategies of deceit. This did not bother me; it was mostly the fact that he would bother my sleep to introduce his knowledge to me. "What is it?"  
"Centuries ago, I decided to study those Ningen and their habits. I wanted to know more than what can be learned by simply standing on the outside looking in. I wanted to know how to strike their minds and their psyche past what standard violence could deal. By this time, I had already acquired much in power and wealth. I employed a certain witch to make for me a ring with a special ability."  
"A ring? And what good does this do for me? What kind of power can some jewelry have that could be any value for my needs?"  
"To know more that you can from being outside, you must be inside, my son. The rings this witch made could change the appearance of the wearer as long as it was worn. I masqueraded as a human for a bit of time with it."  
I felt ill. "You want me to live with humans? And use your ring to do so?"  
"Not my ring. My ring was destroyed long ago. However, with what I have leftover of my wealth, you may be able to buy your own from that old crone."  
"You're serious?! I do not see what good--"  
"Just do so, my son." he said, melding into the darkness of the dream.  
  
I went to the old witch as instructed. She seemed rather ecstatic that she finally has a customer (especially the son of one of her best customers) that wanted one of her magical trinkets. As it turned out, father's wealth could not pay entirely for the ring. No surprise, I thought.  
"Now, to make you look human..." she stared at me attentively. It made me rather uncomfortable, mostly as I was ordered to take off most of my clothing so that she could "cover every point". Perverted old wench... "Most of this is easy. Just some basic smoothing out and color changing effects. I am however concerned with your head. With your father, I believe I gave him hair and cut back as much as can be of the antennae and pointed ears. The teeth too." She turned a nob on an old looking box and an appearance was projected onto me from a lens on its side. After she adjusted it a bit, she became satisfied for the most part. "Long hair, it seems, always works best in these situations. And I'll make it black (it seems more natural with you). But something is missing..."  
I really wished she didn't decide to spend what seemed like hours staring at me, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Ah!" she finally said, "I've got it!"  
"What? What is it?" I just wanted to get some damn clothes on as soon as possible.  
She giggled (which only disturbed me out even more) and adjusted another nob on the box again. I didn't realize what she changed until I looked in the mirror set before me. "A beard?"  
"Well, more like a goutee'. It matches your devilish style," she turned some nobs and the projection disappeared. Then a few seconds later, a ring popped out of the strange box. She handed it to me."Get some human clothes in the back. I'm sure you could find something your size--"  
I had already ran there to get dressed before she finished.  
  
"Red Stave Pub" was one of the most successful bars in North Capital. As luck would have it, one of the head bartenders (I was told his name was Feri or something like that) had become bedridden with a venereal disease and the owner was looking for a replacement. With my drinking experience I learned a lot about mixing and pouring, so I applied under the name Dorai Berumotto and was tested by the owner. I was praised as being one of the best he's ever seen and was hired on the spot.  
My new occupation, of course, forced me to socialize. I already knew how to take care of drunkards, however the problem that set to me was my quick rise in popularity. As frightened as most are towards my looks normally, it was a change to find that, as a human, I was practically mobbed by women. I kept being referred to as "the handsome new guy" or "devil's looks". I would have had no opinion on the matter if it weren't for the owner's niece: a waitress named Uwaki. Although she was the most sought after woman in the pub, I loathed her the most out of the people I met here. Why any man could ever want to be with *that* is beyond my reasoning. But even with my blaring contempt I had for her, she clung on to me like a parasite does on a host.  
Well, not even a week passed before my partner bartender, Aure, had been sent to the hospital. It turns out he contracted the same venereal disease Feri had... Anyway, the owner put up advertisements immediately for another bartender. I didn't think this would affect me much, and I didn't really care who would be hired next. But my new partner would come in soon come in to answer before the week was over, and I was presented with a reason to care.  
When she walked in, all the men hushed first. When I became aware of a new person in the room, I looked up from the cocktail I was preparing to a woman, well built, black-haired and fair-skinned, carrying the sign our boss put up outside. She saw Uwaki first, and asked her if she could talk to the owner.  
"Sure, I guess..." Uwaki went to the door to his office and knocked. "Uncle Nama, some girl's here to replace Aure!"  
"A girl?" His voice came from inside. He came out and took a long look at her. When she started to appear uncomfortable, he finally handed her a form, telling her to fill it out all of the essentials. She nodded and sat down at the end of the bar, taking out a pen.  
I went back to my job. The woman was different, but it didn't really matter, did it? I completed a few more orders before Nama ushered her behind the counter with me. "Dorai, do you mind if I test her out back here?" I waved my hand in compliance. He turned to her and started off with his own orders.  
"First, I want you to make me a Flying Dutchman." he said. She did so, and he tasted it. "All right, next I want a Red Lion." This continued for a while. He went through the same list he did with me and she prepared every drink, whether layered, shaken, or stirred, perfectly. He gleefully accepted her, and went stumbling off to get her a bartender's uniform.  
Since it was certain to be a while before he would come back with it, I decided I should know more about my new co-worker. However Shuran, a regular with a substantial tab, was way ahead of me on that.  
"A pretty new face! Ah, I'm sure you have good taste. You look like a smart girl, after all." He said with his "lady killer" smile.  
She only stared back in disgust.  
"You know, since I'm sure you're new in town (as I know every beautiful woman here), you should allow me to show you around and introduce you to the sites."  
She remained silent.  
"The quiet type, eh? That's a good change from these whirly girls around here." He grabbed her hand. "I think you should consider hanging at my side for a while. We could start tonight after your first shift."  
She pulled her hand from his grasp and walked away. I covered my face to hide my amusement from the encounter. It was strangely like my first experiance with Uwaki's cliché flirtation. After she seemed less nauseated by his presence, she came to me.  
"You're the other bartender, right?" she asked.  
I nodded. "Dorai Berumotto." I held my hand out and we shook hands.  
"Jin Uotsuka. I guess we're partners now." 


	3. Frosted Glasses

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.  
  
For those of you who may be wondering, I will give you the meanings of some of these names: Dorai Berumotto = Dry Vermouth; Jin Uotsuka = Gin Vodka; Nama = Draft (beer); Uwaki = Wanton; Shuran = Fighting Drunk  
  
If you haven't noticed by now, there's a lot of Japanese vocabulary besides that in this fanfiction. So, if you have a problem, I'm sure you can ask almost any major anime fan.  
  
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When Nama came back and gave Jin her uniform, she left to the restroom to change. Shortly after she went, Shuran decided to start cursing me.  
"Bastard! How dare you do this to me?" he started yelling, "A paying customer! I was the most admired guy by the ladies here before you came in. Now all the girls are swooning over you. And when that brick house came in, the kind of woman that I've been seeking all this time, you sweep her out right out from my grasp!"  
"What the hell are you talking about? You just snatched her hand and started hitting on her and she took an instant disliking for you. And while we hardly did more then exchange names, your acting as if I had just mated with her." It wasn't until after I said this that I realized that "mated" wasn't the best word for a human to use when talking about intercourse.  
I don't think Shuran noticed the blunder, though. He already absorbed himself into drinking a pint and picking up a girl for the night. I sighed and waited for an order. After a few people asked for beers (nothing that could occupy my time and attention from Uwaki's frightening advances), Jin came back out with the clothes she came in with (which weren't much more then a plain shirt and black jeans) in a bundle under her arm. Her uniform was exactly like mine, except, of course, the measurements. I didn't have any sort of shock to her beauty or anything of the sort (although, looking back, she did look attractive). The guys in the bar must have thought so too, since we suddenly had an influx of male customers at the bar for a mixed drink. Half of them had notebads or black books out along with their money.  
The night went on mostly like this. The new crowd kept my admirer somewhat at bay, but I was somewhat jealous of my new partner's skills. She did things as easily, if not more so, then I did. I didn't let that phase me much, so I decided to just enjoy my job as well as I could until it was time to close.  
Nama left early, so I was trusted to lock up tonight. Jin left as soon as she was dismissed. But Uwaki, since she couldn't bother me as much tonight as usual, stopped me at the door.  
"Whatcha' doin' for the rest of the night?" she said, trying to be as sexy as she could be (which isn't very in my opinion).  
"Probably sleeping," was my only response. When I tried to pass by her, she blocked the exit.  
"Want company while you're doin' that?" She batted her eyes. "I'm sure I could be a good girl with you in bed."  
"No."  
"But...but... ah! I get it! You like that new girl, don't you? She stole your heart from me, didn't she?"  
"She didn't steal my heart from you. I hated you to begin with."  
"You love her, don't you?"  
"I just met her!"  
"Don't lie!"  
"I'm not! Before today, I've never seen her in my life!"  
"So... you still belong to me?"  
"I hate you, you dumb-ass!"  
"Oh, stop teasing! You love me and you know it!"  
"I've barely known you for a week, and you've become number one on my list of people I most want to kill!" Yes, she even beat Son Goku.  
"You've made me unhappy now! Comfort me!" She tried to grope me, which I side stepped. Then I ran through the door and locked it behind me. She started banging on the door, crying that she wanted out and that I was a cruel lover for avoiding her. I started laughing and walked to my apartment, tossing the keys up and down in my amusement.  
  
My "pad" wasn't the best in town, but it was pretty nice. It had four separate rooms, all for the different human needs. I threw myself back on the sofa in the front room and turned on the T.V. Most things humans watched didn't interest me, however I did like some of the educational channels. An hour passed by with watching something about Atlantis when my phone rang.  
"Moshimoshi?"  
"Piccolo!" I heard an old voice through the receiver. "I forgot to tell you!"  
I groaned. It was that perverted old crone. "What is it?"  
"You're wearing the ring more than 12 hours a day, right?"  
"Yeah, what of it?"  
"When you do that through the first month of having it, it will short out every once and a while."  
"Excuse me!?" I got up from the couch. "Isn't that something I should have been told before hand?!"  
"Don't worry, you have a place to live that you can lock from the inside. Just spend all the time you can in there with your ring off."  
"Easier said than done!" Past the working hours I had, I found that one day Uwaki followed me home and learned my address. Since then, she would try to see me through my window every once in a while, and at this time I couldn't afford curtains.  
"OK, I'll tell you something then that could help out. Whenever your ring feels like its burning, it's about to short out. You have one to five minutes to get out of sight until it gives out. The time it takes to work again usually goes about 10 minutes, however it's gone as far as an hour."  
"Is that all?"  
"That's all you need, I think. Now, I have to make another call. Take care, you hot stu--."  
I slammed the phone down on the hook. A few more minutes passed by until the program was over, so I turned off all the lights, took off the ring, and went to bed, covering my face with the blanket. How was Father able to handle being a human for so long? I thought. 


	4. Buttered Scotch and Popcorn Garnishes

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.  
  
I'm on my 4th chapter and still no reviews?! I changed the rating to PG-13 (since the big stuff hasn't come up yet anyway) so that someone might be able to find it easier. Come on, guys! Is there really that few people looking at Dragonball fanfics?! I probably should have put this in the DBZ list... *sigh*  
  
This is my longest chapter yet, so I hope you are set!  
  
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The next day was rather normal (considering what "normal" is here). Uwaki wined at me and her uncle about how she was all alone in the bar all night and neither of us would let her out. Nama sure as hell didn't care. He only gave her the job because his sister didn't want her daughter to turn to prostitution for money.  
Shuran latched onto Jin like a parasitic worm. Her efforts to shake him off all became futile to his reigning idea that he was God's gift to women. But her flat responses would cut him every once in a while, which I found very amusing.  
Halfway through the shift, Jin dropped a glass she was filling with a yelp. Her face looked rather shocked, and she began to sweat.  
"Dorai... Dorai..." she said in a nervous voice, "D-do you mind covering for me a bit? I... suddenly don't feel well..."  
I nodded, and she ran to the restroom. What happened to her? I thought. She was fine a moment ago, and she suddenly falters. I shrugged and continued working.  
20 minutes passed by and she still hadn't come out. I was becoming concerned, especially since I noticed Shuran was gone, too. I called Mari (the head waitress) over to me.  
"Where'd Shuran go?" I asked first, hoping that he didn't try to sneak in the bathroom after Jin.  
"He left a few minutes ago. I think he was headed for the topless bar."  
That figures. I thought. Well, it's better then the alternative possibility. "Could you check on Jin? She's been in there a while."  
She nodded and went through the ladies' room door. I was wondering what could be wrong until I felt a strong burning sensation on my ring finger. I looked down and saw that my ring was glowing red. "Shit," I muttered, then looked around to find Nama.  
"Sir, may I be excused for the rest of the night? I have personal matters to attend to."  
"Sure Dorai, but don't you want to know what's wrong with Jin first?"  
Sure I did. I was curious what could make a woman like her (who looked rather strong: she had muscle along with her feminine attributes) drop a glass out of surprise. "It's probably just a women thing," I blurted, not fully knowing what that meant.  
He scratched his head. "Well, I suppose you can go then..."  
I jumped out from behind the bar and started going for the door. Then I stopped; I heard Jin's voice from behind me.  
"Dorai, are you leaving?"  
I turned around. She had just come out, Mari by her side with a concerned look. I smiled and waved. "Sorry, I have business to attend to. Are you feeling better?"  
"Y-yes," she said with a nod. "What is it that you need to do so suddenly?"  
"Gomen! Don't have time today; I'll tell you tomorrow!" I shouted, sprinting out and into an ally, where my disguise gave way. I sighed in relief. "Damn! I could have been unmasked any second!" I said to myself, "I shouldn't have even stopped to look back." I sighed and waited behind a large piano box for the ring to become operational. Soon enough, my human skin came back and I walked back out into the street.  
I looked around, wondering whether or not I should go home. Then my eyes rested on the movie theatre. "Perfect!" I said aloud. I knew that in these buildings, humans would watch projected pictures of light while in the darkness. If I sit in the back, it wouldn't matter if my ring shorted out again.  
I went to the booth and looked at the titles. Most of them looked like love stories or substandard action flicks. But one horror movie caught my attention. "One for 'Dead Hearts' please."  
"That'll be 5 zeni," she said. I pulled out my wallet, which now had money since I just got my check that morning, and passed her some. She pressed a button and a ticket popped out from the counter. She tore it off and pushed it to me through the small ached hole at the bottom of the plexi- glass. "Have a good day, sir."  
I grabbed the little paper and walked inside. Suddenly my senses (namely scent) were struck. I looked around, trying to distinguish what made such a pleasant aroma. "Pop.. corn?" I looked at the concession stand. I guess it's some sort of human snack, I thought. I went up to the counter, about to buy a bag, when my arm bumped into someone else's. I looked to see Jin staring back at me.  
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth.  
She returned the question. "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of some 'sudden business'."  
I nodded. "It didn't take as long as I thought it would. But why are you here?"  
"Nama insisted I take the day off. But really, I'm fine now."  
"Ah," I turned back to the popcorn and ordered a bag. She did the same.  
"Which movie are you seeing?" I asked her.  
"'Dead Hearts'. It's the only thing that really looks interesting here."  
"Yeah, that's what I'm seeing, too." We walked down into the corridors, where we found a couple of large doors under a lit sign with the "Dead Hearts" logo. When I grabbed a handle to open it, she stopped me with a question.  
"You want to sit together?"  
I pondered for a moment. If my ring shorted out in there, she might find me out if she's close by. But I decided that saying no would be more suspicious, so I agreed.  
We entered into the large, dimly lit room and sat in the back row together. We began to talk as we waited for it while others came in and took their seats.  
"Did you leave because of me?" she asked.  
"No. What gave you that idea?"  
"Uwaki was griping at me for making you leave."  
"Uwaki is an ass." I said. Jin grinned to this response.  
"I noticed that. She and that ill-mannered Shuran are unbearable, really. How long have you been working there?"  
"Not a week before you came."  
"Really? Did you just move into town too?"  
"Yeah... I'm from..." I tried to pull up a name. "...Kyouryuu Island."  
She nodded. "I'm from Kouseki Island. Oddly enough, I like talking to you. I think it's because you go through the same thing with Uwaki as I do with Shuran."  
I grinned. "You mean like 'mutual suffering'?"  
"Heh... yeah. It's actually rather humorous to watch you reject her like you do."  
I relaxed. Watching these humans during this movie, I thought, will give a better idea about how they react to certain things. Maybe having her close gives me a good chance to study her as her countenance changes. Soon, the lights dimmed to black, and the screen lit up with advertisements, disclaimers, and short clips of movies coming up. The "forwarding credits" and the opening began to roll with a large, dark mansion in a storm in the background.  
Throughout the movie, there was mostly "suspense" tension. Most of the people in the theatre looked nervous during these times. However Jin, whenever I looked at her, looked calm and complacent. Then came the first big event. The main antagonist suddenly lunged out and sliced some of the unsuspecting teenagers into bits. The rest of the room, I believe, were gasping or screaming. But I and Jin were not.  
We were laughing.  
Whenever someone got killed, or the antagonist lunged out from a distance, or a bloodied dismembered head came flying into someone's arms, we were in stitches. At times, we had to cover our mouths to keep from spraying the people in front of us with popcorn. When the movie ended, and we left (with everyone trying to keep away from us as we went for the door) we were still laughing.  
"And- and it was really funny when that guy came into the room and said 'All's clear', then SHUK!" I said with a gesture representing the large stone pillar that ripped the guy in half.  
She was holding her stomach and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, that wasn't as good as when he came in and started beating people up with their own limbs, though."  
When we were standing outside the theatre, the sky now dark, and us still chuckling, we bid goodbye to each other.  
"See you at work tomorrow!" she shouted with a wave.  
I waved back. "We'll have to catch another movie together sometime!" Then I turned and went walking towards my apartment, still smiling. I had no idea there were humans like her, I thought. She's really nice to be around. 


	5. Twin Coctails

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Ahem....R&R please! Just telling me that you read it is fine! I just want to know that it's being looked at! Anyway, I want to know what you guys think of the characters I made. I'm also open to a lot of suggestions (cutting out killing Uwaki and Shuran... as I plan to do so later =D). Warning: Sometime in the future, this -may- be rated R again, and this -may- be in the DBZ section. This depends on reviews and on how bad and frequent the dirty/bloody/druggy parts get. So, if you actually are reading this, and maybe enjoying it, and it just sort of disappears one day, it might not have actually disappeared. And, if you haven't figured yet, this is NOT AU, and I have no intention of doing so with this piece. Back to "Dorai" and his new eyecandy!  
  
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The rest of the month ran rather smoothly. I was able to excuse myself rather gracefully when needed, and I found that when I turned my ring a certain way, my image somewhat faded and dimmed. Not like my real form was visible, but my body just seemed harder to notice. Furthermore, I used some of my paycheck to buy some curtains. That might not sound very important, but with Uwaki around, it was a huge comfort.  
Jin and I would go out together every once in a while. We'd go out to other bars or some night clubs (where I found she smoked the same blends I did, which usually consisted of mostly opium) and watch movies. Sometimes, when nothing was playing, we'd meet at my apartment (she insisted that hers was too small for both of us to hang around in) with some rentals or watch TV.  
It would get odd sometimes, though. We had so much in common, at times we said the same things at the same time, or did the same things on nights where we didn't see each other. Uwaki and Shuran got more and more jealous, and pretty much the rest of the bar was in envy. Even so, we insisted that we weren't together. Nothing was going on. We didn't have any feelings for each other. At least... that's what we said.  
  
Spring was coming up everywhere. The weather was warm and sunny. I had a headache and my nose kept itching. I kept a handkerchief with me for whenever I would sneeze. Tonight was Jin's time off, and I had to hold with the secondary barkeep. Lo and behold, here came Uwaki, just failing with her last attempt to get a guy."Really! All these men, coming to a singles' bar, and their all either married or engaged or taken in some way!"  
"Maybe their lying and they really hate you," I mused, "I mean, you can't really believe that all of those men are taken, can you?" I started laughing cruelly.  
She made a face. "Well, I still have you! And Jin's not here tonight! Why don't we go out instead?"  
"No."  
"WHY?!"  
"I hate you."  
She fettered and fretted to this answer. "Big tease, you're so mean! Playing with a girl's affections like that!"  
"I haven't touched your affections! I have no idea where they've been!"  
She stared at me long and hard for a minute, to the point that I began to get uneasy. Then she snapped her fingers and screamed out, "I get it! You're a homo, aren't you?!"  
I practically fell down. Now, I might have only been 4 years old, and I might have been a human for only a month, but I knew what that was and I... didn't take kindly to it. More truely, I exploded.  
"I'M INTERESTED IN NO ONE! NOBODY! OF EITHER GENDER! I'M NOT HERE TO PICK UP CHICKS, OR FIND A ONE NIGHT STAND: I'M HERE TO WORK! AND EVEN IF I WERE INTERESTED IN ANYONE, IT SURE AS HELL WOULDN'T BE YOU, YOU VILE, INCORRIGIBLE HARLOT!"  
The whole bar went silent for a moment. Then Nama started laughing his ass off, and everybody turned back to normal. Everybody, except Uwaki, who ran to the ladies' room, crying. When Nama regained his composure, he came over to me and congratulated my use of vocabulary in that last outburst. A few minutes later, Shuran came in. He came to the bar with his head down and ordered a double whiskey.  
"You know, Jin's not here." I said, preparing the drink.  
"I know! I know! Good lord do I know!" He said, looking up at me. Then I realized that he had a black eye. Wow this amusement doesn't end!  
"What happened? A girl hit you when you grabbed her ass?" I said with a smirk.  
He shook his head. "I tried to hang out with Jin, tonight. She kept pushing me away, so I called her a lesbian."  
"For the love of... you've got to be kidding! Uwaki just called me gay, and now she's in the bathroom pouting her eyes out!"  
He stood up quickly. "Oh my god! You didn't hit her did you?!"  
"No no no... I called her a slut." I chuckled. But its still odd, I thought, that she would have the same experience as I so often. It was really quite annoying. Like it was some mockery that Kami-Sama placed on me. I sighed when I thought this. Damn him! And I couldn't even kill him!  
The rest of the night flowed rather fluid-like for me. Nobody really bothered me. I was actually close to happy. When my shift was over, I stepped outside, taking my vest off since the weather was still warm, and as I went up the steps to the sidewalk, I saw Jin leaning against the pronged, steel fencing.  
"Ah! Jin! What are you doing, just loitering there?" I greeted.  
I seemed to have woken her from some sort of dream-like state, because she looked at me somewhat startled at first. Then she gave a breath and greeted me in turn. "I was just thinking about something I'm supposed to do whenever I leave North Capital."  
"'Whenever you leave'?" I repeated, "You're going home so soon?"  
She held up her hands and shook her head. "Not at all. I wont leave for another year at least. But..." she sighed, "It's inevitable. Let's get off that subject, shall we? How about we rent something tonight and get stoned? I'm feeling pretty good right now, and I don't feel like going home."  
I smiled at the brusqueness of her request. "I'd rather go to a club tonight. Maybe..." I hesitated for a moment, "I might try dancing."  
She giggled. Not like a school girl does, but much more mature, with some cruelty underneath it. I really felt that I was partial to her laugh. We ran off together to the nearest club.  
  
The music was rather decent. Instead of a brain-fried DJ, there were actual musicians performing on a stage. The club was somewhere between classy and contemporary. Of course, I've never heard most of the songs before, so I didn't try to go on the floor as a forwarding opportunity. We both watched other people dance. From what others were mumbling (good thing I still have my keen hearing, even with this guise) I was able to discern the names of some of the dances that I was witnessing. It all seemed rather confusing. There were more then one criterion of dance, and it seemed like each of these criteria had hundreds of variations. But I kept up with it, none the less.  
I believe Jin became restless, as she grabbed my hand and drug me up there herself. I was actually pretending to pout, begging that I've never danced before. She didn't show any mercy. It was even a fast-paced song, and I was forced to comply, lest I make a fool of myself.  
I followed her step mostly. Pretty soon, it didn't feel too awkward, and I was able to keep to pace. Before I knew it, we had already danced to 3 songs, and I was willing to continue.  
  
Two hours flew by, and we exited the club together. Suddenly, I felt odd. I was no longer embracing her, moving with her. Yet I could still feel her hands in mine. I looked at her, and found she was already staring at me.  
"It's... strange, isn't it?" she muttered. I nodded. I didn't think I could speak. For some reason, my throat locked up. Then I sighed, and held out my hand. "It was a nice evening, Jin. I had no idea you danced so well."  
She took my hand and shook it. "I never did dance before, really. I only watched my parents and my brother dance all the time."  
"Oh?" I felt a little embarrassed to this.  
She nodded, and let go of my hand. She gave her valedictions, then went on her way. I watched her walking to her apartment for a little while. I just noticed the clothing that she was wearing: black, velvet pants and a burgundy blouse. It matched her, I thought. I turned and walked home, not allowing that idea to fully develop in my mind. 


	6. Lowball, Highball

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.  
  
Ok, I'm averaging a chapter or story a day, I think... actually I think two. My mind must still be in "writing mode" from those senior portfolios. And I'm drawing... I should be working on my Latin... wow, something has to burn out soon.  
  
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Although I can handle any kind of weather without much difficulty, I am most uncomfortable in Spring. It's getting brighter and warmer, and my sinus' are going crazy. And to top it off, Humans start to get rowdier when Spring hits. And I was working in the right place to know that...  
I needed money to pay off the rest of the ring that my father's fortune couldn't cover. Stupid, expensive trinket. I hated interacting with Humans. I hated being with Humans. But I wanted to take the planet from them, so I have to study their psychological weaknesses. Not just the max- and-min thresholds, but those small faults in character and how to take advantage of them.  
  
"Dorai-saa~n!" The girls greeted me when I came to work today. Oddly enough, my popularity shot up even more when I was found dancing with Jin. Why? Because I could dance, apparently. And enjoy it. It seems most men wont go to clubs to dance. Well, the extra attention didn't bother me as much, especially since Uwaki now has a grudge against me for screaming at her. Whenever she sees me, she only puts her nose in the air and walks away. That makes me kind of... happy.  
Jin came in shortly after I. She didn't get the same greeting that I did: she was whistled at usually. One guy made the mistake of calling her "Jin-chan" once, and found himself across the bar with a broken nose. Even so, she didn't mind the rest. I think it was because Shuran now cowered from her, even though his black eye had been gone for a while. Maybe things are looking better then the season's letting on.  
Nama had the bar's television a sports channel most of the time. I was never particularly interested in them, so I didn't pay attention usually. But now, they were showing something very familiar to me. It seems that all day they were showing the footage from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, and as soon as Jin noticed it, it seemed like she couldn't keep her eyes off of it. I tried to ignore the program as much as I could, but everyone kept talking about it. And Jin wasn't talking at all. She was only working and watching. Well, I thought, it makes sense that she's into martial arts.  
Suddenly, Shuran turned back to himself when he saw Jin's new obsession. "You seem to be enjoying yourself. Hey... is that a rosy cheek I see? Maybe you have some human emotions after all? I bet you like that muscular guy with the weird hair-do and in the orange gi. Am I right? Hmm?"  
I froze. Jin... likes Son Goku? Impossible. She hates idiots. But then again, it was evident that she was staring a lot during the final round (or what footage was had of it). And I heard her comment that he seemed to be the "superior fighter" in almost all situations. I started watching her reactions, and found she blushed a lot at a certain time... when Son overpowered my own blast, meant to kill the spectators. I remember clearly the fear I had. For a moment, even if it was short, I was scared that I may die from the energy wave he used to dissipate my own. Maybe... intelligence doesn't matter that much to Jin. Not as much as strength.  
What am I worrying about? I asked myself. She can like whoever she wants, right? I'm not after her heart. We're not together. We're just friends...  
That's when I came to realise that as soon as I am finished with my "job" here, no matter what, I cannot see Jin again. As much as we may have in common, she'd probably run off like the rest if she saw my true form; if she saw that I am Piccolo. I sighed heavily in response to this thought. Surely she wouldn't see me as a friend anymore.  
"Dorai!" Uwaki wined behind me.  
However, I wouldn't care if that thing ran away in fear from me.  
"Come on, Dorai! Just give me the cocktail! Jin's not listening and you know that I can't mix stuff myself!"  
I turned back to the bar and prepared the order that she needed, then sent her on her way, all without a word. When I felt that these irrational feelings had gone far enough, I turned to Nama with a question. "Could you switch the channel to something else? They're just playing it over and over again."  
My employer looked up from the paperwork he was doing at the edge of the bar. "Sure. My sister's coming anyway. She hates fighting." He clicked it to a different sports station, breaking Jin from her unnatural trance.  
Soon the sister he spoke of came. Entered was the mother of Uwaki, Taifu. When the daughter attempted to greet her, she was immediately brushed aside in favor of Nama.  
"Ni-chan!" she called out happily, "How are you? You look pretty healthy, especially that gut of yours."  
He laughed with her to this and hugged her. "Onee-san! You're here! How long are you staying in North Capital this time?"  
"Not much more than a few days. Oh! Where's those darling little boys you have manning the bars?"  
He scratched his head in the anxiety of the touchy subject. "Feri and Aure... both came down ill. I had to replace both of them. But my new head bartenders, dare I say, are much more skilled. They're both here." He gestured towards us. "The girl there is Jin Uotsuka." They nodded to each other. "And the lad is Dorai Berumotto."  
Upon looking at me, she gasped. "My! Is he a prize! You're certainly a lady killer!"  
Now Uwaki jumped in with her normal attitude. "Yeah, Kaa-san! We're going steady! He's such a sweetheart."  
I stared coldly at her, then I looked back to her mother. "Ma'am, I hate your daughter. She wont leave me alone. I told her that I have no interest in her. I've locked her up, embarrassed her, even screamed at her until she started crying. How the hell do you get through to her?"  
The woman nodded. "She does that... a bit useless. She was never smart or talented, and she can't keep a commitment with a man. She's just selfish."  
"I'm standing right here!" Uwaki wined.  
"Well," she turned back to her brother,"I'll be sticking around for a bit. Perhaps I'll sit here with you and catch up while you work.  
"Sure," he said, "Baseball's on the television if you get bored."  
Jin didn't seem to particularly care for Baseball, but I didn't try to talk to her, or really answer her when she spoke to me. So she decided to pour a drink for herself and wait for some more orders. It wasn't a bad idea, so I made an Oklahoma Bulldog and nipped at it for a while.  
Taifu squealed in delight after some time. "Oh! The Taitans are playing a big game later today here! I'm sure that I can get tickets, but I hate going to ballgames alone. Won't you take me, Nii-chan?"  
"No way, aneue," he mused, "Too much work. How about your daughter?"  
"What daughter?" she said.  
He laughed. "How 'bout one of you guys?" he said in our direction. "Interested, Jin?"  
"Baseball's boring," was Jin's answer.  
He tilted his head. "How about you, Dorai? Could you escort my big sister to the game?"  
I was about to decline, but I looked up to the screen and saw a familiar face stepping up to the plate. "Taitans, eh? I suppose I can take you, ma'am." I grinned to myself. Maybe I could lessen the opposing forces for my goal just a bit.  
"And now," the announcer blared through the T.V. speakers, "it seems that the Taitans star-hitter, Yamcha, has taken the position."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Upon uploading this chapter the first time, I decided to look up some of the fics of the people that reviewed this, and I found that we had more then tequila in common. Her penname is name Princess-"Keisei", which was the name of "Taifu" until I changed it just now. By the Gods, that's creepy! I'm sorry that I almost made you Uwaki's mother! 


	7. White Viking

Disclaimer: See chapter 1  
  
Hmmm... I don't think that I have anything to say... Oh yeah! Taifu = Courtesan (Edo period). Also means other stuff... but that's what I was aiming for. And "White Viking" refers to a fake drink on an episode of "Cheers" (I thought a Cheers referance would be nice, as Sam "Mayday" Malone was an ex- baseball player, current bar-owner). And I do not own Cheers, nor am I affiliated with anyone involved.  
  
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Taifu obtained some seats that were pretty close to the exits for us. I had no interest in the game, but I certainly had a purpose here besides doing a favor for my boss. Humans had a thing with morale: if their comrade dies in battle, the battle gets fiercer. But if the comrade dies by other causes, their lines get weaker then just from the loss of the strength of a single person. Killing Yamcha here would be more useful then one would think.  
She knew much about the Baseball team Taitans. She mentioned that their greatest player, Yamcha, only played when the game wasn't going well for them. He always came through with a home run for them, etc., etc. Well, that information was useful: I realized that they were doing quite well that game near half time, so I excused myself from her presence and snuck past the guards.  
He was just sitting around in the room before the locker room, playing some sort of card game by himself. I walked in and cracked my knuckles. It took him a moment to realise that someone else was there."Who are you? A fan?" He stood up.  
I smirked. "Not really."  
"What are you doing here, then? Don't tell me that you made a wrong turn."  
"Certainly not. Everything I do here..." I pulled out a switch-blade, "... is purely intentional." I did a normal lunge to him, like the one that was done towards me by the kid I took this knife from. He easily dodged it, but I kept attacking at the same speed and accuracy.  
"Give up before you hurt yourself!" Yamcha boasted in his arrogance. I laughed and threw the blade at him with a more serious speed and power. It hit his shoulder and pushed him back a bit. He hit the wall behind him.  
"You...!" His stare became grim. "Who are you?"  
"Just a normal mugger," I joked, "At least, that's the kind of report I'm aiming for with the police."  
"...Like a mugger can really kill me!" he said, then attempted to attack me. I side-stepped it and stood behind him.  
"It doesn't matter whether one can or not, I just want people to think that you were."  
He tried to hit me again, but I avoided it without a problem. He tried again and again, with more speed and more momentum behind it, but when he could not lay a hand on me, instead of panicking, he made a smirk. "You have to be stronger then any mugger. You shouldn't have thrown away your weapon so soon, 'cause if you lay a hand on me, someone will definitely know that a mugger didn't do anything."  
I grinned. "Is that what's bothering you?" I willed the blade over to me from his shoulder and laughed. I held the ruddied metal out in front of me, amused by his hopeless situation.  
"You... you're not normal..." He looked at me in a deadened eye. "I can't believe I'm going to die by a guy claiming he's an average punk. Hell, he can't be a punk!" He then pointed to my ring. "That's proof enough that he isn't!"  
"This stupid thing?" I said, taking it off then placing it in my pocket. "You're right. It was pretty expensive. My father's fortune couldn't even pay for it."  
"P-Piccolo!" Now came the real lapse of logic. He attempted to sprint past me, but a quick swipe, hitting his arm, kept him from crossing to the door.  
"You don't seem to understand. You will die. Here. Now. Everyone will think that it was just the average crimes of these parts, or a disgruntled fan. Whatever the press wants to fancy with. No one will really know that you died from my hands."  
He shook his head. "No! Goku and the others will know it was you! They have to!"  
"You keep dreaming. Maybe you wont notice the transition between life and death." I went on the opposition again, catching a deep cut in his stomach and side. He tried for another escape, but he got a wrenching stab in his intestines instead.  
He fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. "Damnit! I can't die here! I can't... I can't leave Bulma alone..."  
This dispairfull comment struck me oddly, as I felt a short tug, perhaps upon my heart-string, delaying me a moment. My hesitation was just enough for him to get past my guard and make a dash for the exit.  
"Shit!" I grabbed him by the back of his collar and threw him to the wall harshly, cracking the drywall. Fuck! I messed up! I thought, Now what do I do?  
I rushed up to him, took him by the neck, and held him against the wall. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll spare your life for now, but you have to do me a favor."  
Yamcha nodded to the best of his ability.  
I dropped him. "You have a check-book handy?"  
"Y-yes..." he said amongst his coughing.  
"Write a check of all the money you have in your account. Don't worry about who it should go to, I'll take care of that."  
He pulled out his pen and book and did so. I snatched it from him with my left hand (it hadn't any blood on it like the other), examining it for a moment, then took the check-book to see if he put it all in. "That's quite a decent amount of money there. It will do." I tossed the leather book back to him, put the check in my pocket, and went for the door. "And Yamcha... if you tell anyone what happened here, I'll kill you and everyone around you. Clear?" He nodded. "Good." I put my ring back on and ran to the bathroom to wash my hands.  
After I flushed the blade down the toilet, I heard Taifuu's voice calling for me. I went to greet her, apologizing for taking so long.  
"Oh, that's all right, dearie. But I was getting concerned about our safety. We should stick together while we go back. Apparently, Yamcha was suddenly attacked by this large big punk gang, of atleast 20 men, when he left the locker room."  
"Really?" I said, trying to hide my humor. It had to be a large punk gang to satisfy his ego, I suppose. He probably threw in motorcycles and fully-automatic arms in his story. If he didn't yet, he will before it reaches his girlfriend or his sparring partners.  
  
When we were going back to the bar, I kept looking at the check. Now I had more than enough to pay off that debt from the ring, and I had learned a lot about a human's mentality already. I could quit now, I thought, If I wanted to, I can just go back to training and never have to deal with Uwaki or Shuran. And I wouldn't have to see Jin either. I never have to wake up for work again. I never have to abide by human law again. If I wanted to, I could leave at this very moment.  
But I didn't want to. 


	8. Peridot Margaritaville

Disclaimer: See chapter 1, damnit!  
  
That barely had anything to do with baseball. lol  
  
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The time passed by, and Taifu would be spending her last day in North Capital in the bar. She mostly ignored her daughter, paying more attention to her brother and the rest of his workers.  
"Berumotto-san, I hear that you're a good dancer," she said with a giggle.  
"I guess."  
"Well? If Nama here pumps out some music, would you care to show me your talent?"  
"Nee-san!" Nama interrupted, "I will only go along with that if Jin agrees to allow me one dance with her as well! She and Dorai both dance together pretty well, so I'm thinking that she's the one that taught him, if not the other way around."  
Uwaki and Shuran kept trying to interrupt them, saying that they wanted to dance with us.  
"Oh, Uwaki." Taifu frowned. "You can't dance, unless it's that 'bump- n-grind' stuff. I'm talking about civilized dancing. Not your sex-starved renditions!"  
The girl became angered from her mother's sharp words. "Stop making me seem like I'm some sort of slut, Kaa-san! What kind of mother does that!? I just want to dance with my dear Dorai!" She batted her fake eyelashes at me.  
"I like this family," Jin muttered to me. I nodded.  
"Dear, you are a slut! You've had the clap 3 times already!"  
Jin and I fell down on our asses, cracking up.  
"MOTHER!!!" she wailed.  
Jin pulled herself up onto the counter by her elbows. "I knew it! It was an odd number!" She gasped amongst her laughter, "Dorai! You owe me 200 zeni!"  
I snapped my fingers to my misfortune, but I was still laughing. It was true, the month before we really made a bet on whether she had the clap an odd or an even number of times.  
Uwaki stormed out. When we were able to gain our composure, Shuran decided to yell at us a bit. "You shouldn't make fun of someone like that."  
"Oh come on, Shuran. You do it all the time. The only reason you didn't this time is because you have genital herpes right now." I said, still smirking.  
His face grew blood red. "H-how did you know about that?!"  
"Liquor loosens locked lips," I mused, reaching for a glass to make myself a drink. Upon hearing this, he shouted several lines of contempt and stormed out in the same manner. Jin and I shook hands.  
"Uotsuka-san," Taifu said when everyone seemed calm enough, "Do you mind the dancing suggestions we were having before that incident?"  
"Sure, sure, whatever," Jin said, "I don't mind trying to dance with Nama. I think Dorai's fine with dancing with others."  
The tone she used confused our boss a bit. "You act like you guys don't have much experience in dancing."  
"We don't. The time that people first saw us dancing a few weeks ago was the first time either of us has ever danced," I answered.  
"So..." Taifu moved a fallen blond hair behind her ear, "... you've never danced with any other partners besides each other."  
We nodded.  
"This will be an honor then!" Nama went behind the bar. "I'll turn on some music. It's been a while since we've used the dance floor anyway!"  
  
After the night was over, and everyone said their goodbyes, we locked up. Nama went straight home, but I just stood beside Jin outside the door for a while.  
"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed, "I almost forgot!" I pulled out my wallet and gave her a few 50s. "You won the bet. How'd you know it was going to be an odd number?"  
She laughed. "Uwaki is an odd person."  
"Indeed. Interested in doing something tonight?"  
"Maybe..." she looked up, as if something in the sky might give her a nod or a shake, "I feel restless, but I can't think of anything I want to do."  
I was about to invite her to my apartment, but I realised I wasn't in the mood to watch rentals or documentaries. I didn't really feel like going out anywhere, but for some reason, I wanted to spend time with her.  
"Maybe we can go over to you're place," I finally suggested.  
She turned to me in an exaggerated motion. "I've told you about my apartment. It's so small, I'd feel lucky if we could both fit in it at the same time. Plus there's nothing interesting to do there."  
"We can just sit and talk, can't we?"  
She looked at me strangely. "I don't have a couch. Only a chair, a couple of tables, a bed, and a small black-and-white television set. Not really anywhere to sit, and there isn't a carpet so I'm sure the floor wouldn't be too comfortable."  
I crossed my arms and laughed. "I don't care where we sit. I'm just in the mood to talk, that's all."  
When she saw that refusing this would just mean spending the night alone, she agreed.  
  
Past being on one of the top floors in a building without an elevator, most of what Jin said was not an understatement. Past the skimpy furniture that she already mentioned, there was only a small window and blank walls. The light fixture was little more then a lightbulb on a wire. This was all one room.  
"You don't have a bathroom?" I looked at the single sink beside a small fridge.  
"Every floor shares one," she said with a shrug.  
"How come you don't get a better apartment? I'm sure you could afford it; we get the same amount in the paycheck after all."  
"When I came into town, there was no places open besides this, and I keep looking. Nobody else has had a free place yet."  
"I see," I sat in the single chair and opened the curtains in the window. "You have a nice view at least." I was referring to the crescent moon and starry night I saw blanketed over the city, which glowed a warm orange from the street lamps.  
She nodded and sat on the bed (being the only other seat). "That's the only thing good about this place. Sometimes, if I can find something decent on the radio, I'll just sit and listen while staring out."  
I smiled. "Maybe we can find something."  
  
It seems there are some good radio-stations in the area, since it was usually a while before an obnoxious song would interrupt our conversation. We hardly struck a serious note; most of the time we were laughing and joking about anything that came to mind. An interesting song came on the radio, "When You're Evil". We both knew the words and started singing along to it together.  
Afterwards, she fell back on the bed, laughing at herself. "I'm a terrible singer."  
"Nonsense. You're better than I."  
"Yeah right. You have the best bass voice that I've heard in a while."  
I grinned to the complement and stared at her. She was reclined on the bed, entirely streached out, staring out the window, what light that was coming from the moon was dusting over her, showing her contours. It was a while before I realised the awkward silence surrounding us, and I stood up. "I better go home."  
"So soon?" she said. But when I pointed to the clock on the radio, she grinned at how many hours had passed. "Very well. My next shift isn't till Wednesday, so I'll see you then."  
"Night, Jin."  
"Night."  
When I closed her door behind me and walked out the building, I remembered that I didn't know this neighborhood at all. "Great," I muttered to myself, "I have to fly home if I don't want to get lost."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Voltaire reference! Hehehe... and I don't have any legal ties with that song. But I am in Voltaire's fanclub! 


	9. Drowning your Sorrows

Disclaimer: Have you really gotten this far without realising that it's in chapter 1?  
  
Piccolo's just sitting there, thinking. Just sitting. And thinking. How long is he going to just sit there and think?!  
  
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Gradually, I noticed Jin more and more. In times before, I saw her as a partner in mind and position, a rival in the career, and a friend in common situations; nothing more. Now, I felt a different sort of closeness towards her, but it seemed so strange to me that I couldn't allow it to fester on my mind and accept it as plausible emotions.  
  
Midsummer is more enjoyable than Spring-time, but only at night. I can handle the heat and the sun, but I would definitely prefer not to endure it for too long. That's a great side to being a bartender: most shifts, especially for a head, are after dark.  
It began raining hard outside, and the bar took on the atmosphere of an anhydrous haven within this drizzling land of storm. People came in, as glad to get out of the weather as a stranded man would be to be back in civilization. However, when Jin came in, she only looked wet; not desperate.  
She wore her casual clothes today, with a plastic bag under her arm. If she had an umbrella or a rain-jacket, she never used them, claiming that she was used to rain hitting her all the time. She went into the women's room to change into her uniform, and was almost followed by Shuran (good thing Mari is always there to keep his habits in check).  
Throughout the night, we were mostly serving up toddies and whiskey shots. Between orders, I looked at my partner. Although her clothes were dry, her hair was still soaked and only drying slowly. Her vest and blouse had already become damp from it. Her other clothes wont dry before the shift is over, and it's still raining hard outside, I thought. I was about to ask her if she wanted to share an umbrella with me and go to my place, but Nama's boredom had him flipping through T.V. channels. "Hey! Here's that recording from the martial arts tournament!" Upon hearing this, I sunk back to my side of the bar, which was the farthest point from the television. Jin took up her position in order to see the screen the best, and Shuran soon came to her side. He really liked the fact that she had a crush; I suppose it made her look more approachable.  
I sighed involuntarily, then found that Uwaki was staring at me, fluttering those damnable plastic wings she called eyelashes. I ignored her and silently waited for an order. After what seemed like hours, the program's end released Jin from her personal trance and she concentrated more on her job. Shuran came up to me and ordered a double shot of whiskey.  
"Why didn't you just order one from her? She was closer."  
He shook his head. "I figured out something disturbing about her just now."  
I cocked a brow. What could be more disturbing that he didn't already know about? When I questioned this, he didn't comply with an answer. "You really think I'd tell you? Just this: she's got weird preferences."  
I didn't ponder this long, as the shift's end was coming close, and it was still pouring outside, as I suspected. Jin's hair and shoulders were still somewhat damp, and I was sure that her other clothes were worse. Even so, when I left, I only grabbed my black umbrella and went by myself. I couldn't bring myself to come near Jin. How could she possibly like Son Goku? And why the Hell should I care? I only groaned to my idiotic thoughts and started walking, but it wasn't long before I heard splashing footsteps coming up quickly behind me. Please, I thought, Don't talk to me now. I'm already confused enough. I just want to go back to my apartment and forget this stupid situation!  
"Dorai-kun!" said a different voice than I had expected.  
I turned around. "Oh. It's you Uwaki."  
She huffed to this. "How cooly you answer me! Can I share your umbrella with you? Mine broke."  
I stared with contempt for a moment. "No." I turned and started walking again  
"But Dorai-kun!"  
"And don't call me kun!"  
"Please! I'm getting soaked! If you want, I can take us to dinner. I'll pay for it!"  
"If you're eating habits are anything like your social habits, I have no interest in sharing a meal with you. You'd probably be trying out some of the stuff from my plate out of curiosity."  
"Is that some sort of insult!"  
"Sure."  
"Fu-fuu! You want me and you know it! You're just playing hard to get!"  
"Whatever you say. Don't follow me home."  
"As if I would! Go to your apartment and be alone!" I could hear her run off angrily in her heels. Well, at least I wasn't as depressed anymore.  
  
*******************************  
  
I was suddenly aware of a small, white hand waving before my face. "What the Hell...?" I muttered, and looked around me to see who was there. It was Chi-Chi.  
She sat down beside me. "I looked up what you said about Valentines Day. It's all true. Where'd you learn that?"  
"Some book that I read."  
"You can read?"  
"Of course. I can read and speak in almost every language that's ever been on Earth."  
She looked at me in skepticism. "Prove it."  
I sighed, then spouted out some sentences in English, French, German, Latin, Russian, and even an African tongue.  
"Can you do anything else?" she asked.  
"What am I? A dog that does tricks?"  
She shook her head. "I'm just thinking that it might not be too bad for you to be around Gohan if you could help him with his studies."  
"Send that idea back where it came from. Aren't I a 'bad influence'?"  
"Well...!" She began to giggle. "You've been sitting in that same place for hours, looking at the sky like you were hypnotized. You're thinking about her, aren't you?"  
"H-huh? About who?"  
"Don't try to pretend that you don't know. Your little girlfriend that you had. You were sitting there, not paying attention to my standing here for the last fifteen minutes, just staring off into space, blushing from time to time..."  
"Is this any of your business?!" I really felt like my privacy was violated just now.  
"Certainly! You're sitting here, just outside of my property, thinking about a girl. Now, if you don't want me to stop cooking for you guys, you'll start narrating to me about your relationship with her."  
"Why do you even care?!"  
"Is it wrong for me to know more about my son's trainer and friend? It's my duty as a mother!"  
I growled at her. "All right. But you interrupted my train of thought there, so I'm only giving you a generalization up to the point you disturbed me." 


	10. Wax Champagne

Disclaimer: *points to chapter one*  
  
Chi-Chi doesn't allow anyone to keep their privacy, does she? lol!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"OK," I said. I had been talking for about half an hour, trying to get back up to the point she interrupted me.  
"Wait a minute, before you continue..." she looked at me with these unusual eyes, like the kind some women have when watching a soap opera or some sort of Romance, "You didn't really describe her."  
"Wh-what?"  
"You didn't describe how she really looked or acted. At least not in detail."  
I purposely skipped that for a reason, but I knew she'd just bother me about it, so I complied. "She was somewhat muscular, buxom with an hourglass figure..." My face was growing hotter by the second. "...envy haired, hazel eyed... with pale, soft skin... her countenance was strong and rather..."  
"Beautiful?" she finished for me.  
I nodded. "I liked her voice. She had such confidence behind it..." I tried to turn my head from her. "She smiled and laughed... cruelly. Very stark."  
"You're head looks like a grape," Chi-Chi remarked with a smart-ass grin.  
"C-can I continue?! I finally got to the place where you decided to disturb me!"  
"Oh! So you'll be putting more detail in it then?"  
I growled. "Yes! Yes I will! Just let me continue..."  
"Just one more question."  
"WHAT!?"  
"What did you look like with the ring on?"  
I pondered this question for a moment, trying to find the quickest answer. "Did you ever see 'Pirates of the Carribean'?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Sort of like that guy... Jack Sparrow ... just more beard and... less looking like Depp."  
"You're kidding! I imagined that you'd be a black man as a human!"  
"Yeah. I know."  
She blushed. "Wow...what color was your hair?"  
I tried to scoot away from her. "Black! Now enough of those stupid questions! I'm continuing."  
  
"It was near the end of summer, and my phone was ringing. It reverberated several times in my head; it didn't help my hangover at all. The night before, when Jin refused to come with me for drinking and smoking at a local underground club, I went by myself and over did it. With each bell, my head throbbed violently, and the sunlight from the window stabbed my eyes. I grabbed the receiver and screamed into the mouthpiece, 'What is it!?'  
"'Piccolo-sama!' A familiar old voice came from the other end.  
"'It's you, that stupid Youba...' I grumbled. 'What do you want, hag!? I already payed your money!'  
"'I noticed that nice little envelope of money with the message "For the creepy, ancient bag" on it. But really, I'm calling you for... sort of a complementary fortune-telling.'  
"'Spout it out so that I can go back to bed.'  
"She chuckled. 'How many female co-workers do you have?'  
"'Several. Most of them are waitresses.'  
"'This is about a girl bartender with a very evil persona.'  
"I swallowed. 'J-Jin? What about her?'  
"'Today may be the last day that you'll ever see her again.'  
"'W-what do you mean? What's going to happen to her?'  
"The crone was laughing again. 'You sound worried, my dear Daimaou. Is she close to you?'  
"'Nothing of the sort! It's just--'  
"'You two have a lot in common, correct?'  
"I had entirely forgotten about the pain of my hangover by now. 'Just tell me what's happening.'  
"She hummed in thought for a moment. 'No. That's too much information to pass out.'  
"'Damn you, you fossilized piece of fodder! I'll kill you if you don't tell me this moment!'  
"'You're really like your father,' she crooned in her amusement, 'That's the end of my prophecy. But destinies can change; remember that.'  
"Before I can scream at her anymore, there was a click and her voice was gone. At least Youba didn't hit on me again, I thought. I tried to go back to sleep, but the prediction of Jin's soon permanent absence kept tugging me from it. It was too hot and bright to go back to sleep anyway, so I took a shower, got dressed, and decided to meditate a while until it was time for work. My shift would start an hour before Jin's tonight, so I would have time to sort out anything before I saw her at work.  
"I overestimated myself on that idea. I thought that I had convinced myself entirely that I had no 'love' for Jin. I kept telling myself that 'I do not love Jin. I cannot love Jin. I cannot love a human. I cannot even love!' But I was not as prepared to see her come in as I had thought.  
"Although the falling day outside was warm and dry, she came in soaked. She was in a bathing suit, apparently just back from the large water park just outside of town. It was only a black one-piece, but..."  
"It was really revealing?" Chi-Chi interrupted with a giggle.  
"--Anyway, after smacking Shuran in the face with a suitcase she was carrying, she went to go change. When she came back out, with the suitcase still in her hand, I was struggling to not stare at her. I was certain that the leather carton had something to do with what Youba was telling me earlier, but to be honest, I was afraid to ask about it. Soon, though, attitudes reverted to our daily qualities and I had forgotten all about it.  
"But Uwaki would not be undone in gaining men's eyes. She tried her best to get as many stares from the male customers as possible, which if this had been a few months before, before there was a rival in being attractive, would have succeeded without much flaw. Instead, she put herself up to the cutting block of Jin's wit.  
"'You're really too much of a stale, Uwaki!' Jin said with her usual wicked smirk.  
"'And what would you know about it?!' was the shrieking reply.  
"'Just this: Clap on!' She clapped twice. 'Clap off!'  
"I nearly collapsed over the bar with guffaw. I could hear Uwaki's frantic attempts to get the taunting off of her. But, suddenly, I heard her scream something of repose, 'What about this?!' and the laugher died. I looked up from the counter and saw that she had grabbed Jin's left hand and was holding it out for everyone to see. 'How long have you been married, Mrs. Uotsuka?!' She was referring to a diamond ring that Jin wore on that hand.  
"Jin pulled herself away, glaring at Uwaki with a great rage that I have never seen in her before.  
"Uwaki continued when she found something that finally aggravated Jin, 'Well!? Who's your husband? Does he live in North Capital, or are you living some sort of double life?!'  
"'Just because you would do something like that--' Jin hissed, '- doesn't mean that its something I indulge in. I'm not some desperate slut with a hormonal disfunction like you!'  
"'What's your real name, then?!' Uwaki screamed.  
"Jin stood in silence, anger seething through her stare. 'Jin Uotsuka.'  
"'And who's your husband?!'  
"'I have none.'  
"'Bullshit!'  
"Jin slammed a glass that she was mixing a drink in upon the counter. It shattered in a million pieces, the liquor within spraying all over the place. Her true ki was leaking out of her like steam through cracks. When Uwaki was about to continue spurring her on, she grabbed her throat with her ringed hand and had the other in position to rip out her throat.  
"'Jin!' Nama called out, 'Calm down, please! You don't have to tell anything about your personal life! Just put her down and stay still for a moment...'  
"She did as she was requested of her. Nama promptly dismissed his niece and tried to comfort Jin, but she pushed him away. Her head was bowed, her whole body still shaking with a violent animosity. Her breath was seaping through her clenched teeth as raspy air. From what I could see of her eyes past her long hair was flashing and almost glowing red, like a dagger that was thrust into an intense pyre.  
"'Jin,' Nama tried to speak in a soothing tone, 'You may go home now, if you want.'  
"'NO! I CAN'T GO HOME!' she screamed, but even with this, she grabbed her single piece of brown luggage and ran out. It took much of my willpower to not run after her, but I managed to quelch the thought and began to clean up the broken glass and spilt liquor. My boss noticed that I couldn't hold off my personal wave of emotion, which I suppose would be closest to fear in description, and dismissed me as well, saying that he and Mari could hold up the bar.  
"I left to my apartment, suddenly feeling exhausted. I fell to my bed and dosed off immediately."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't own the movie that I mentioned; really, I never even saw it. But I want to. And as for Youba, it translates along the lines of "old hag" or "witch". I didn't give her a name before, mostly out of laziness. But it gets monotonous saying "crone" and such over and over. 


	11. Anisette and a Cherry

Disclaimer: Chapter 1.  
  
This is starting to not be a comedy. Maybe I should change the genre... Anyway, thank you for the reviews. Interesting that 3 of them are by the same person. *nods* OK, acceptable. Just don't be holding back on the reviews. Hmmm... Maybe I should use ransom notes more often. Heheheh...  
  
Here's a bit of a Japanese lesson for you guys. "Daimaou" is roughly translated as "Dark Lord", "Devil", or "Demon King". When the word is disected, you get Dai = Great, Ma = Devil, Demon, Ou = King. "Joou" means queen. ^_~.  
  
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"My thoughts didn't die in my sleep. 'What purpose do I have to stay if I never see Jin again?' echoed off the walls of my mind. My whole existence was in this unknown pool without temperature or texture, just currents of pain. Amongst this, I heard an odd chuckle.  
"'You, found your "Daimajoou", didn't you, son?' said a familiar voice.  
"'Father..? What do you mean? Where are you?'  
"He appeared before me. 'I'm so delighted! That's my boy!'  
"I cringed. His smile didn't look as if it belonged to him. It matched more the goofy grins Son Goku flashes his friends. 'What are you talking about?' I finally pushed.  
"'You found her! Your "Daimajoou"!' he repeated, 'I was getting worried that you may forget to find one and put her off like I did.'  
"'"Daimajoou"?! I have no interest in taking a wife!'  
"'Lier. You found her and you want her more than anything. You just wont own up to it. Go after her.'  
"I looked at him in confusion. 'Y-you mean Jin?'  
"He started giggling again, in a way that was somewhere between a school girl and Danny Kaye. 'My son's growing up so fast!'  
"I shivered. 'Are you trying to make me never want to dose off again throughout my life? I'm pretty young; I'll have a lot of sleepless years ahead of me.'  
"'Not at all, but I do want you to wake up,' His face turned more serious. 'Go after her.'  
"I shook my head. 'I can't be with her, Father.'  
"'Well, you may be right; you might not be able to be with her. It's customary for a female warrior of her people to only marry a man that can beat her in fair combat.'  
"'S-so she is a fighter?'  
"'Very much so.'  
"I looked away. 'Her husband... must be an amazing man...'  
"Father laughed to this. 'She has no husband, Son. And I doubt she ever had.'  
"'Then what---?!' I stopped myself and again looked away.  
"'The ring doesn't signify anything as far as romance goes.' He grinned at my emotions. 'Go after her, Piccolo. Go find her. There's no shame in wanting to share the world with a queen, especially one like her.'  
  
"I woke, sweating heavily, then glanced at the clock. Barely an hour had passed since I went to sleep. I sat in my bed for a moment, dazed at what options were before me. I looked outside for a moment, watching the stars shimmer and the clouds waft by, and I decided what I should do.  
"I ran out towards the decrepit building Jin lived, amazed that I didn't get lost in my frantic energy. I went up the stairs, not even sprinting now, but full out flying, and darted to her door. I began pummeling the door with my fists, yelling for her to open and allow me in. It took me some time to realise that she wasn't there.  
"When one of the other tenants came out to complain at me, I grabbed him by his collar and started to question him myself. "'Where's Jin?'  
"'W-who?!'  
"'Jin! The woman who lives in this apartment!'  
"'Her? She was kicked out this morning for getting smoke in the ventilation system again.'  
"'What? Where is she now?'  
"'I have no clue where the slut is!'  
"I threw him at his door. 'Don't ever speak that way of her again!' I went out of the apartment complex again, trying to think of where she could be. It took me a while to calm down enough to think rationally. I realised that a ki like hers, even when suppressed, shouldn't be too hard to place. I searched the area, and after a while a breeze came in carrying a stream of her signature. She's in the park, I thought. She's still in the city."  
  
Chi-Chi had starry eyes to this. "Did you go after her?"  
  
"Yes. I didn't bother hiding my speed as I went to her. But I stopped when I was about 20 meters from her. She was sitting on a park bench, alone, under a street-light. Her eyes were fixed upon the treetops, that same holdall by her legs. I had no idea what to do. She had no where to go. There were no places left in the city. All of her belongings must be in that container.  
"She puffed from a roach. I smelled the familiar blend and sighed as she slowly exhaled. I decided what I must do, and I walked up to behind the bench briskly, then leaned down, resting my elbows on the wooden backing , just a few inches away from her. She looked at me. Her face was rather emotionless; like a mask. I smiled to her.  
"'I suppose I'm homeless,' she said, then she smiled cruelly and looked to the empty space in front of her.  
"'You said before you left,' I went to sit by her. 'that you couldn't go home. Is that what you meant? Or was it something else?'  
"'Both.'  
"Against my logic, I pulled myself closer to her. 'Do you want to stay in North Capital?'  
"'I suppose I do. But there's no where to go.'  
"'There is.'  
"She turned to me in a rather passionate motion. 'I told you before. That place was the only apartment available. I kept trying to get a different place, but they always have their rooms saved for someone else as soon as someone moves out. Now, I don't even have that rat hole...'  
"'Jin. You can live with me.'  
"Something burst behind her eyes. I think she was afraid of something, and it was a while before she would answer. 'I... cannot take upon your hospitality, Dorai. It would be... rather out of character for both of us if I did so.'  
"'Please, Jin. Do you have another option?'  
"She shook her head. 'I've got debts to pay and no place to live. It's not like I'm incapable of surviving without shelter, but...'  
"'Then come live with me. You know that I have room. I can sleep on the couch, and you could have the bedroom; or the other way around if you like.'  
"'Why do you want me to stay so badly, Dorai?'  
"'Maybe I just want to do something out of character.'  
"She grinned to this. 'Very well, now, will you allow me to do something in that state as well?'  
"Before I could answer, she had already pressed herself against me in an embrace, with her arms around my neck and her cheek on mine. I wrapped my arms around her waist and--"  
  
A moment of silence passed. "Why'd you stop!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.  
"You're looking at me very strangely."  
"You're at the best part! Did you two kiss or what?!"  
"N-no!"  
"Then what happened?!"  
I groaned. "I just-- held her really close, that's all. Then we stood. She picked up her suitcase and we went home together."  
"Did you do anything when you got there?"  
"Besides sleeping, no."  
"Where'd you two sleep?"  
"Oh, by the--! She insisted that she slept on the couch that night, and I was in my own bedroom. Why do you ask these damned questions?!"  
"Just curious..." she said with an innocent look on her face.  
My brow twitched. I wish I could just forget that she was there while I was recollecting, but her weird stares kept knocking me out of it.  
"By no means believe that I've even come close to the climax," I said. 


	12. Vexatious Tonics

Disclaimer: It-is-in-chapter-one.  
  
My winamp is playing, and "Hey Jude" came on, and I was like "WTF this is like what Piccolo Daimaou was telling Piccolo Jr in his dream in chapter 11!" No wonder Piccolo was so freaked out. (Btw, the guy I mentioned, Danny Kaye, he's a singer/actor from the old days. I've got a feeling that he's died before I was born. Anyway, if your curious who the guy is, he sang "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts".)  
  
AND NOW ------ COMEDY  
  
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"A few days later, Nama asked both of us to come to his office.  
"'Now, I've said before that your personal lives don't matter,' he began, 'but I really want to stick my head in to give you guys some advice. Don't you think you're moving a little fast?'  
"Jin and I were confused. Then he showed a memo that Jin had left him, stating her address change.  
"'Oh, that's what you're talking about, boss,' Jin said, 'Don't worry. Dorai and I aren't even going out. I'm just staying at his place until I can find another apartment.'  
"'What happened with your last place? I know it was bad but surely...'  
"I interrupted, 'Sir, Jin was kicked out her apartment and I offered for her to live with me. She's paying half the rent; Don't worry.'  
"He scratched his head to this. 'Well, OK... Dorai that's awfully kind of you.'  
"I twitched to this. It was more like an insult to me, but I played as if I had taken it as a compliment anyway, 'Thank you, sir.' Jin snickered at the lack of emotion behind my statement.  
"'All right, as long as you aren't making any mistakes,' he paused, 'After all, I don't want to lose my two best bartenders to a disgruntled ex- husband with a semi-automatic.'  
"This time Jin twitched. 'Thank you, sir,' she said in the same manner. We were both dismissed.  
  
"Later on, we were about to leave since our shifts were over when we were stopped by Uwaki.  
"'Dorai! Jin! Can I talk to you guys?" she said in a happy tone.  
"What good mood we had built up to this point was dashed away again. 'What is it?' I asked.  
"'Well...' she started off, twirling her finger in her hair, 'Uncle Nama's been lookin' at me kind of angry-like since what I said a few days ago, and he told Mother what happened. They've both been buggin' me to do somethin' nice for you, Jin.'  
"Jin dropped into a full grimace. 'I don't need anything, Uwaki. Don't worry about it.'  
"'Oh come on! They'll be bothering me until I do. Now, I was wondering what I could do for you, and I got a really great idea! Jin, I should give you a make-over!'  
"'The Hell you should!' Jin exclaimed in annoyance. 'I'm not a blasted barbie-doll!'  
"'Don't worry! I'm giving Dorai one, too!'  
"I backed away 'I have nothing to do with this!'  
"'You two, really!' Uwaki huffed. 'Come on, it's only one night! I'm paying for everything!'  
  
"When it became obvious that she wouldn't leave us alone until we agreed, she took us to her own room, trying to find something of her own for Jin, confident that she might not have to spend extra money on her.  
"'Just try it on! It's even black: your favorite color!' She kept trying to force a short dress to the bathrobed Jin.  
"'Black isn't a color' Jin replied cooly.  
"'That's why it matches with everything!' Uwaki pushed her into the walk-in closet.  
"A few minutes passed before Jin said anything from behind the door. 'This isn't going to work without a bra or something like that, Uwaki... '  
"'What are you talking about? That dress has a wire in it all ready.'  
"'Yeah, and its about two cups too small...'  
"I was biting my lip, trying not to laugh. It made sense that nothing of Uwaki's wardrobe has fit Jin yet: the two had completely different body compositions. After an hour of arguing over what does and doesn't zip up all the way, Uwaki surrendered Jin's normal clothes to her and drug us to a store.  
  
"Uwaki wouldn't let Jin even close to the pants, saying that she always wears them and needs something new. She forced one of those bright red, slinky and revealing dresses that she would more likely wear upon her, then rushed her into a changing room.  
"'Now,' she said with a somewhat victorious smile, 'Let's get you a suit, Dorai.'  
"Damn, I thought she had forgotten me, I thought, I have no luck today. Before I knew it, I was pulled into another section, having pinstripe patterns and ties contrasted on me."  
  
"A suit?" Chi-Chi giggled. "You were being forced into a suit?"  
  
"Better than her putting something perverted on me, which was my original fear," I said with a shudder, "When she found something satisfactory to her tastes, she put me into one of those small dressing holes as well, leaving me to figure out how to put the damn thing on. The thing had like 20 pieces to it.  
"When I was finished, she looked at me, judging for a second, then rushed me on, saying that Jin was already in the salon, 'getting her hair and face done'. Upon reaching the place, Jin came out. She had an expression of someone who narrowly escaped a desperate situation. But she didn't look half-bad, even though she seemed like she would kill herself in her own distress.  
"Then a slight fear came over me. 'You're not going to put me through that too, are you?' I asked Uwaki.  
"'Of course not, Dorai! I'm doing your hair myself!' She exclaimed.  
"I gulped. Although my 'hair' was tangible and had texture, I was afraid that she would notice that it was only an illusion as I wasn't sure it could be cut or streaked like Jin's was. But I was forced to sit anyway. She pulled out a brush and some sort of hair thing, then pulled it back in one of those pony-tail things.  
"'Can we go now?!' Jin looked like she could rip her own uncomfortable face off.  
"'Well, the make-over is over with,' Uwaki made an expression of achievement, 'Now it's time to show you two off at the night club!'  
"'Y-you're kidding!' I exclaimed.  
"Jin's distress deepened and she collapsed beside me. 'I think I'm going to cry.'  
  
"So you two felt that bad about getting your images redone a bit?"  
I turned away from Goku's wife and her over-friendly smile. "You're talking to me the same way you do to that Bulma woman over the phone."  
"It's interesting!"  
"It's scary!" I shook my head.  
"So what happened at the club?"  
  
"It seems that Shuran knew about Uwaki's plan and was already there, ready to ask Jin to dance with him.  
"'Go to Hell,' she answered plainly.  
"'Now, Jin!' Uwaki shook her finger at her, 'Manners!'  
"'I wish you a lovely journey in a handbasket to Tartarus, sir.'  
"This seemed to confuse them enough, and he asked Uwaki instead, who accepted with a sickeningly bright smile. Jin sat down at a table in a dark corner, trying to escape view. I followed after a while for the same reason.  
"She looked at me, an annoyed look still crossing her. 'I'd ask you to leave, but you might be able to keep anyone else from asking me on the floor.'  
"I nodded and sat back. I felt tired and agitated, and I didn't want to start a fight with my roommate. After a few minutes of no discourse between us, she finally spoke again.  
"'You know, when I got upset with Uwaki, it had nothing to do with the ring. However, I'd be lying if I said it had nothing to do with marriage.'  
"I tried not to let that line seep into my skull and waited for her to continue.  
"'You see,' she paused then shook her head with a laugh, 'I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but in my family, there's a lot of superstition. If it's prophecised that someone should marry a certain man, its almost as good as an engagement.'  
"'So...' I wanted to look at her, but I couldn't. 'You're parents want you to marry someone that you're not interested in?'  
"'Sort of,' she said. I heard her lean on the table, 'Almost everything revolves around these two guys. Both of them, well, adore me. One of them is tolerable. He's OK to spar with; nothing more. But the other was...'  
"'Like Shuran?' I said.  
"'No, actually. It's hard to explain. It's like he seems like a decent person to be around for the first 20 seconds, but after that you just want to punch the guy in the gut.'  
"I grinned and looked at her. She was actually smirking. 'But that's not really what bothers me,' she continues, 'It's what's expected of me that really pisses me off. I'm supposed to sit at home, training to be a hostess or something like that. Training to be a wife. Ridiculous.'  
"'You're parents are that old-fashioned?'  
"'Actually, no. My father supports me becoming a--' she paused, '-- a fighter, since he's one himself. My mother used to be one, but now she's into the wife-thing. I don't want to end up like that.'  
"'I see.' I noticed that Uwaki and Shuran had started to look for us. I stood and turned to her. 'We should get on the floor before those two idiots find us.'  
"She nodded and stood with me. 'Is that your way of asking for a dance?'  
"'Sure. Let's just hurry. They've spotted us.'" 


	13. Daimaou's Workshop

Disclaimer: *points to chapter one* Like I'm going to spend time telling you guys that stuff that you hear in every fanfic anyway!  
  
"Daimaou" is also a popular brand of sake. It must be pretty powerful to earn that name ^o^ (apparently, there's also a *cough* vibrator by that name, which I will not get anymore into) ANYWAY, Chapter 13 takes place on Halloween! What kind of crazy coincidence is that?!--- *goes back to reading the Piccolo striptease chapter in Dbz Chika's fanfic*  
  
Patrick (random friend from school): *laughes his ass off* PICCOLO! DEVIL GOD OF EROTIC DANCING! *breaks out into his own rendition*  
  
Will: O_O;;;!!! *averts eyes*  
  
Piccylo: *not paying attention, too busy drooling over text*  
  
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"I wasn't quite sure how to take Jin's words that night. I wasn't sure if I should feel some triumph since she was single or dismay because she seemed like she wanted to stay that way. And whenever such thoughts crossed my mind, I always told myself to disregard them. Even though I had rather blatantly displayed my wishes to be near her, I still tried to convince myself that I shouldn't have any feelings any deeper than friendship. After all, what could I do with a human that would probably flee if she saw how I really was anyway?"  
  
"Aww...did you really think that she'd run from you?" Chi-Chi said with her emotional face.  
  
I ignored her. "Anyway, I continued to avoid her. Some days I wouldn't speak to her at all. It might seem difficult if we were roommates, but she was able to tell when I wanted to be alone and wouldn't ask questions, sometimes going out herself to save me the trouble.  
"Soon Autumn came and it was getting cooler. Season's changing might not sound like it should be that important to you, but you'd be surprised how much attitudes change with the scenery. One great advantage was as it got colder, so did Uwaki and her attire. Past that, there was something more important about to happen.  
"Halloween was coming up. Both Jin and I were to have the day off, but Nama offered to give her a bonus if she were to come to the bar in costume that night and be a single woman that would be randomly selected to be the date in the Masquerade Dance that he had every year. She accepted since she still had so many debts.  
"Mari was working that night, but Nama asked her as well. She nodded to this then started talking to Jin about her costume. Jin didn't do much more than nod. Uwaki tried to get her words in the conversation (assuming that it was a conversation) but her stories of her 'cute little Playboy bunny outfit' were completely disregarded. I had no plans that night, so I figured that it might be interesting to come in as a customer in costume."  
  
"Let me guess. You went as yourself."  
  
"Somewhat. It's odd that my ring, when worn reverse, only shows the super-imposed hair and beard. All the color changes and the negative illusions to hide my ears, antennae, and fangs would not exist. I went looking like this, with an outfit similar to my father's." I smirked. "Got quite a reaction."  
  
"So, you looked exactly like how you look now except with long, black hair and a goatee?" Chi-Chi looked at me as if she was inspecting something.  
  
"WILL YOU STOP THAT!" I screamed, knowing fully well that she was trying to picture what that looked like. Damn, she pisses me off sometimes.  
"I stopped off at other places first, not really intending to go to the Red Stave Pub. I went there eventually, about 9:00 p.m., but I admit that I had a little too much opium and alcohol for such an early hour. When I went in, they were already having bachelors come up and choose a number at random to get one of the masked women in the house. As soon as he saw me, Nama bid for me to come up and pick. I was about to decline, but I remembered that he was slowly his edging his ear more and more between Jin and I lately, trying to distinguish whether or not we were a couple. So, I reached in the box and picked out a number.  
"I looked at it, then Nama took it and read it aloud. '"Number 5", come up and get your man.' The crowd chuckled a bit, and a woman, completely covered in a black ninja outfit, came up and bowed to me.  
"'The famous Dorai Berumotto, dressed as the infamous Piccolo Daimaou.' The figure mused in a dark, unfamiliar voice, 'Don't ask my name. I'm just a lonely mercenary woman. Let's sit down here.' She lead me to a table near a corner.  
"Another man came up, dressed like the main character from a cartoon, 'Tree-gun" or something like that. He picked out a number, and Nama read it out. A nervous voice called out from the other side of the room. 'I'll be with you after my shift is over!' The girl who said it wore a blue and white cat-girl outfit, which identified her to me immediately that she was Mari. She bowed as well as she could with the trey in her hands and continued with her job. The guy who got her yelled out in a rather joyous call, 'What a lovely little pussy I got!' and he laughed rather insanely. Poor Mari has an imbecile, I thought.  
"I looked around after everyone was taken, trying to decipher who was who. I couldn't really identify Jin from any of the women, and the only Playboy bunny was a disgustingly large woman with her husband. 'I thought that Shuran would be here to pick up a masked girl,' I said aloud.  
"'Shuran is too busy with the Halloween party at the topless bar,' my companion replied. I nodded. Figures. Then, looking at the ninja-woman, I tried to figure out if she was Jin. She looks like she may be too small, I thought, but then again black can do that.  
"'Excuse me,' Mari came up to us, speaking in the quiet tone that she always had, 'What would you two like to drink?'  
"Against my better judgements, I ordered a Zombie, as did the woman. Mari bowed politely and went to Nama with the orders. I began to contemplate different events up to this point, mostly about Jin, and how to deal with them. I thought back to what she said at that club after the make- over incident, and began to doubt something. She said that she had gotten angry at Uwaki because what she brought up reminded her about her being expected to marry and settle down, but the more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem that she would get so angry over it. After all, I was sure that if Nama didn't stop her, Uwaki's blood would have been sprayed all over the bar-top, and normally Jin is very patient and uncaring about such things.  
"Then I remembered something Father said. ' ...to share the world with a queen, especially one like her.' I wondered what he meant by this. Sure, Jin was stronger than she let on, but as far as I knew, she didn't have a reason to hide it. If she was as strong as he said, she'd surpass any Human woman. In fact, she would surpass any Human period. 'One like her'. I turned that over and over in my mind. Was he hinting something about her when he said this? Maybe, like me, she wasn't Human? Perhaps she was even a demon? I thought how this might relate to her anger that day, and I found a common note: her ring. If her ring had nothing to do with marriage or coupling, what did it mean? Could she have gotten it from Youba as well?  
"The ninja pulled me out of my thoughts again. 'You're pretty quiet, Dorai Daimaou,' I heard her snicker to this nickname she made. 'Then again, you're always quiet. Something eating at you?'  
"I shook my head. 'Just thinking about something.'  
"'You sure it wasn't someone?'  
"This made me pause, and almost made my heart skip a beat. 'What do you mean?'  
"'A young man like you has to have his eyes on some girl, even if he enjoys being a bachelor.'  
"'A bit of a pretentious remark, isn't it?'  
"'Well, if you don't, you can always try a mystery box like me. You hate Uwaki, Mari's far too timid to match you, and Jin's just too cold to be a lover.'  
"All these things were true. Jin was, indeed, rather cold. Like how demons usually are. Like how I am.  
"'So? How about we go out for a bit after the unmasking at midnight?' she continued, 'You know, try out new directions.'  
"'You're suggesting that I date someone that I'm not even quite sure who is?' I felt that shouldn't have, but I agreed.  
  
"The night continued, and I became more and more wary of who this woman was. My skills had been dulled by the activities of the night and I wasn't quite in the most sober of senses. But as far as I could tell, this woman didn't seem to have the same build as Jin, nor did she have the limited vocabulary of Uwaki. Most of the other waitresses were easy to place as well. Who else could she be? I shuddered at the thought that she might be the hag, Youba.  
"The clamor died down as the bell struck twelve times. Nama stood up and started to speak. 'The witching hour has come, my friends. Lads, you may get to see what kind of beauty, or beast, is under those masks that have been by your sides all night. Beware, for you may find a trick or a treat.' The guy had a knack of saying corny things every once in a while.  
"'I'm all yours,' the ninja giggled. I reached over, squirming a bit at the thought of who might be under there.  
  
"Were you hoping that it was a certain someone?"  
  
"More like I was hoping that it wasn't someone else. I pulled it off and blinked in surprise. "Mari?!"  
"Mari giggled as she normally did, using her black-gloved hands to hide her face. 'I can't believe you didn't figure it out, Dorai! Jin's right: you are cute when startled.'  
"'But wait, I thought that you were...' Without finishing that sentence, I stood and immediately went after the woman that wore the white and blue cat costume, who had just narrowly escaped her crazy date. When she saw the anger I had, she cowered and shook. 'D-Dorai-san! Why do you look so angry?'  
"I snatched her mask from her face. She screamed and hid her face with her hands. Then I heard a laugh from her; a deep and cruel laugh. From behind the hands, I saw Jin, smirking in a sort of malicious victory. 'We thought that it might be interesting to trade roles,' She stretched a bit, allowing for her build to go somewhat back to its normal perceptions. 'Mari is more of a rat then even I thought. Telling lies like that! "Cute when startled", indeed!'  
"'You did say it!' Mari yelled from the table.  
"'Like I'd say such thing!' Jin huffed and crossed her arms, but she was still simpering.  
"'Whether you did or not, he is cute,' Mari was talking with more confidence than I was accustomed to seeing her with, but I've still seen ripened strawberries with less red than what was her face. She took my arm 'And now he owes me a date.'  
"Jin laughed, then walked away, waving us from her. 'Very well. Just don't stay out too late, Piccolo Berumotto.'"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That sequence with Patrick and Will I typed several days ago, before I actually told them about the fanfic. However, I seem to have predicted their actions pretty well, as they did do that. And I do not own Trigun or Vash the Stampede. 


	14. Sugar, Ice, and Dry Gin

Disclaimer: See that first chapter of this thing, in which I have written. Yes, the story is, indeed, mine. But what isn't mine is clearly stated in chapter 1, along with some warnings.  
  
There's going to be less Uwaki and Shuran for a while *yay!!!*  
  
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"The rest of Autumn was rather uneventful. Winter came; frost and fog put the outside world into an unreal perspective, and inside any building was a recluse from the cold. Snow would fall heavily one night. It began as a pleasant dusting, but come close to closing time, the wind and fall had picked up, ever-growing and not showing sign of end. Some people left early, and it was bad enough that Nama locked up before the hour.  
"I walked alone; the weather posed no difficulty to me. Upon entering the apartment, Jin (she had the day off) promptly asked my reasons for returning so early. I only gestured to the window. She then wished to know if I would watch some movies with her since a few marathons were on. I nodded and sat beside her on the couch. We proceeded to watch several programs and films of different varieties, at one point fighting over a bag of popcorn. But regardless, we spent a few hours this way.  
"Several hours later, a great snap, followed by a sudden absence of sound and light, woke me. I realized that one of the movies had lulled me into sleep and--."  
  
"Which movie?" Chi-Chi seemed to be expecting a Romance title.  
  
"Umm... 'The Exorcist', I think. Such a boring movie. To continue, I felt Jin stir on my shoulder a bit. With a sigh, she went back to sleep. It took me a moment to understand that she was (inadvertently, I'm sure) reclining against me. Now, unable to relax, I tried to figure out what had happened. The T.V. and lights were off; I couldn't even hear the refrigerator hum. So, I carefully pushed myself away from Jin and made for the window. The gale was howling, beating at the glass in a pulse. Outside, I could only see darkened white. There was no moon or star. The street- lights were off on one side of the road. Across the powdered ground was a contrasting object: a fallen pole with severed power-lines.  
"I heard Jin move again, her heartbeat picking up a bit. From what I could see in the dark, she was searching around her. I couldn't determine if she was looking for me or the answer to why the light was gone.  
"She recognized my form and went to me. With her side against mine, she looked through the pane herself. 'Electricity is out then?' She stretched. 'Well, we can't watch anything, and I'm sure that all the places are closed from the blizzard.' We stood there for a moment in silence, then she went for the door.  
"'Where are you going?'  
"'Just talking a walk.' She pocketed her key.  
"'Really?'  
"'Want to come with me?' She put on a jacket.  
"Without another word, I grabbed my own wrap and left with her. After walking through the black air in the corridors and down the steps, we opened the entryway and a blast of cold rushed into our faces with flakes, moving at such a speed that it would sting the skin. But this didn't keep us from going out, almost blindly, into the street.  
"As far as I could tell, Jin was moving ahead of me, pushing around the snow as she crossed between alabaster bumps that represented the cars underneath. She was fully accepting the weather without complaint, even enjoying the freezing gusts, not pausing for a breath, not slowing to determine her surroundings. She was used to it. This presented me with a thought. Kouseki Island is in a temperate zone, is it not? A winter season shouldn't be enough to condition such an adaption. How much is she hiding?  
"I came to the conclusion that I should test her. I ran by her, tripping her as she sprinted. She didn't avoid it, however she tumbled and stopped herself in a fighting stance.  
"'You can be a brassy guy, Dorai. What's this? You want to play a game?'  
"'Maybe, unless you have a better suggestion.'  
"She seemed to find amusement in this. 'Fine then.' she grabbed a handful of snow and formed it into a sphere, which was thrown into my face. I sneered, but before I could clear my eyes of the frost, she had already disappeared. It was difficult searching for her. She must have been suppressing her ki, and her heartbeat, as well as any other sounds, were drowned out by the wind. Without other options, I hid myself as well and waited for her move.  
"We pretty much performed a small war in the road. She didn't seem to care that she was revealing her strength, but, then again, I must have been revealing a lot as well. Neither of us would allow the other to win, so we were both 'fighting' pretty hard.  
"I managed to find an opening as she attempted to roll another snowball, and I tackled her to the ground, pinning her down into the snow under me.  
"'Ready to admit defeat?' My voice betrayed my feeling of triumph.  
"'You have me under you in an immobile position. If your enemy would deny handing you the victory willingly, what kind of punishment would you administer in such a situation?' The way she said this, even though she was yelling, was in a rather a-matter-of-fact tone. However, the phrase still made my heart race as much as it was while we were running around.  
"She noticed my floundering and turned the tables on me by pushing me off into a large snow mound. Once again, battle reigned and we continued our attacks until the blizzard began to die and the clouds gained light from the coming of the sun. We called a cease-fire and agreed on a truce, going back to the room.  
"As soon as we entered, I was overtaken by weariness. I resolved to sit back on the couch, my hands still frigid and wet.  
"Jin would sit beside me, close. 'As Stephen Crane says, "War is Kind".' She emitted a tyrannical crow from her throat and leaned back as far as the cushion would allow. 'You are a strong and fast man, Dorai. Why weren't you in the tournament?'  
"'Why weren't you?'  
"'Too busy, I suppose. You're excuse?'  
"'The same, I suppose.'  
"She laughed again. 'We really have too much in common.'  
"I made a bold statement: 'I'm interested to see how far our similarities go.'  
"'It's an intriguing subject, however, I fear that upon finding those boundaries, I might pass too far over other lines between us.' That was where that portion of the conversation would end, though we spent the rest of the day together, talking. Confidentially, the conversations I had with her have always been the best in quality and meaning, even if we did so just to pass time."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This chapter was actually kind of short (in comparison with the others). Well, I wrote it out in a notebook first. Handwritten stories and chapters tend to be shorter than typed at times. BTW, I don't own the Exorcist or Crane's poem. 


	15. A Sweet Bloody Mari

Disclamer: Chapter one.  
  
Metaphor in the last chapter: Dry Gin. Dry's on top ^_~. Bad joke, huh? Well, he was for a minute... he just found himself in a mountain of snow as soon as he realised it. Anyway, I've been working on this one a lot since I've been getting so many ideas for it and I'm getting anxious to get to the climax in here, and then, maybe if there's enough people to R&R this story, I'll get into a sequel. *hint hint*  
  
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"Piccolo." Chi-Chi seemed to be confused now. "I thought you said that the girl was a Human."  
"That's what I think."  
"But you're saying now that she might not be."  
"Well," I paused, trying to think of the reason, "You see, something happened that disproved that idea."  
There as another pause. "Are you going to say what?"  
"I'm getting to it!"  
  
"Even though that was the worst of the snow, the icy rains were still pretty bad. The roads were almost always glazed over with a layer of freeze; the same goes for the sidewalks. However, Nama refused to let the weather affect his business any more and kept the pub open as much as possible. Several of the other employees had complained time and time again about the difficulties they have to get to work, but he always retorted by gesturing to the customers, saying that if they could get there, they could get served.  
"When I came in one afternoon, the first thing I noticed was an iron- like smell. Blood. I looked around, but no one seemed to be ill or injured. I glanced over at Jin. She looked a little tired, but she was already 2 hours into her own shift, so I supposed it to be fatigue. I deduced the smell to be a leaking pipe or something of the sort and went behind the bar.  
  
"The closer I was, the more I noticed how pale she was. She was naturally white, but now even her lips were washed of all color. Her uniform also didn't look like it fit. That's unusual, I thought, When she put it on this morning, she looked fine. I wanted to ask her about it, but whenever I tried coming near her, her eyes would become very hostile.  
"As her shift came to an end, she went to change in the bathroom. I became even more confused. Why did she need to change if she wore her uniform to work? Did something happen to it and she has to wear someone else's? Then my attention shifted when I felt a tugging on my sleeve. I looked to a worried Mari, her face almost as pale as Jin's.  
"'Dorai-san,' she said as if she could start crying any second, 'You noticed that Jin's acting strange, haven't you?'  
"'Yes. Is there something wrong?'  
"She nodded slowly. 'When I was coming to work today, I got held up by a a couple of boys. Jin came up and fought with them a bit. She's pretty strong and got the upper-hand really fast. The purse they stole from me was chucked into the street, and after they ran away, she jumped into the road to pick it up, but she landed on some ice and slipped.'  
"'Is that all? I don't see how--'  
"'I'm not finished, Dorai-san. You know the steep hill on 32nd street? Well, this is where she was. She was trying to get up, but a large semi appeared from the hill and couldn't stop in time...'  
"About this time, Jin came back out. The clothes she now had on were not her own, though what looked like her uniform, except torn and dirty, was under her arm. She weakly muttered some sort of valediction to us and left. As soon as she was gone, I grabbed Mari's shoulders.  
"'What happened?! Was she hit by the truck?'  
"She looked to the floor, trying to escape my stare. 'In full force. She... she was in the grill of the truck for about 20 meters, then, when the driver tried to slow down, she got dragged under and was run over...'  
"Nama couldn't hear our conversation, but he became concerned about our behaviors. 'Is something going on here? Mari, is this about why Jin looked so thrashed when she came in?'  
"'She...' Mari continued, 'She insisted that she was OK after she got up. She pushed the crowd away and asked to borrow my jacket since her vest and shirt were almost completely torn off. But, when she went to change in the bathroom, I was taking some extra clothes to her, when I saw a huge gash across her side. There was a lot of blood, but she cleaned it up and tore what was left of her shirt into bandages and wrapped it around her waist.'  
"I felt cold sweat fall down my temples. Jin was injured, but she wouldn't allow anybody to come near her to help. Nama was about to call the hospital, but I stopped him and asked if I could have the rest of the night off.  
"'You're going after her? You think she'll accept having you nearby?'  
"'She has to. We live together, remember?' To this, Nama waved me to hurry off.  
  
"When I entered the apartment, it was dark, except for the bathroom. The door was open slightly, and a long triangle of light emitted from it upon the floor. I could see Jin moving inside.  
"'I have to hurry and patch this up,' I heard her mumble, 'Damn thing, opening my wounds and tearing my clothes.' She exhaled a growl, from both anger and pain. 'It has to be dressed before Dorai gets back. He'll ask so many questions...'  
"I walked to the door as quietly as I could and tried to look through the slight opening. I could see her leg. I presumed that she was sitting on the floor. Then I noticed several rags, many of them red. Once again, I could smell the iron. It was Human blood. Her blood. 'Jin...' I muttered aloud.  
"I saw her move, startled by my voice. 'Dorai? What are you doing back so early?'  
"'Consern.'  
"There was a great silence before she spoke again. 'I take it Mari told you.'  
"'Let me see your wound, Jin.'  
"'It's nothing serious.'  
"'I can smell the blood. It's heavy, isn't it?'  
"'I said it's nothing.'  
"'Jin!'  
"'Look, it's none of your business. It's not as if I'm bleeding to death here. It's just an old wound and it reopened, OK?'  
"I pushed the door wide open, then almost closed it again with my embarrasment. She was shirtless, tending to a long, deep tear in her flesh. Thick blood oozed from it, and I was even able to identify some of the muscles and an organ that was visible. Despite anything I might have thought, she had Human anatomy, inside and out.  
"She scowled at me. 'Bloody Hell, you can be really annoying. Can't I tend to my own lesions without someone gawking at me?'  
"'I-I'm sorry... I just...' I shook my head, trying to rid myself of what shame was gnawing on me. 'This is an old wound? How did you get it?'  
"'A fight went too far.' She said with an irate expression.  
"I felt my eyes narrow. 'You're lying.'  
"'What?'  
"'You're lying to me. That's not something that you can get from a battle. Where'd you get that slash, Jin?'  
"'I told you that this is none of your business.'  
"I came closer to her, kneeling down to have a better look at the damage. From the discoloration around it, I determined that it was at least 6 or 7 months old. In fact, a lot of it had already healed pretty well. I tried to think of what it looked like when it was new, and I shuddered at the thought. Jin's side would have been literally ripped open, gaping from base of the hip up to the middle part of her rib cage. I tried to think of what could have caused such a great rending. 'Were you in some sort of accident?'  
"'I was just hit by a semi. Didn't Mari tell you?'  
"'No. Something worse.'  
"She looked away; I must have hit the mark. I peered into the hole again. 'There's some metal debris in here. Let me get something to help pull it out.'  
"'It's not necessary,' she said, 'I'll take care of it.' Without any more words, she reached in and plucked it out with her own hands, throwing the ruddied pieces on the floor.  
"I sighed and stood. 'We'll need something to keep off the infection. I don't have anything, though.'  
"'Don't worry. Do you know where my rum is?' I nodded. 'Go fetch it and bring it to me. The alcohol in it will work fine.'  
"I did as she asked. She poured it into the gash, not showing much more discomfort than a flinch. After she finished cleaning the wound, she wrapped up her waist with the unused rags, managing them as bandages. With the object of distress gone, I was once again aware of her uncovered breasts, and my humility forced me to turn away and escape her presence."  
  
"So, you have that much decency in you?" Chi-Chi interrupted with something of a smart simper.  
  
"Lady, you are a pain in the ass," I snapped, then I presumed with the narration.  
"I heard Jin stand up, but her steps were slow and dragging as she made her way to the door frame, where she nearly collapsed. Without another option, I put my arm around her and lead her to the bed. Here, she lie back, releasing a heavy breath. I think that she didn't like being given help, but she nodded her approval to me and muttered a thanks. Yet it was a while before I left the room, in fact I found myself wanting to display some sort of affection towards her. I blinked and tried to shake if off, my face growing more feverish. It wasn't helping that she had yet to pull the covers over her exposed chest... I abruptly left her, calling back that I was sleeping on the couch and all she needed was to shout if she needed anything. But, despite the mess in the bathroom and any remaining worry I had, I fell into a dull somnolence and dosed off." 


	16. Emerald Cosmopolitian

Disclaimer: Would you believe me if I said that it was in chapter 1? (btw, prepare for a long author's note)  
  
The last chapter wasn't originally going to be like that. I had planned (for a long time) that Jin would be the one robbed. She would do little more than roll her eyes, then go after her purse, at which point she would have been hit and Piccolo would have witnessed. Then, Piccolo was supposed to get pissed off and go after the robbers, perhaps killing one of them, and then hear a great commotion along with Jin screaming for everyone to get away. He would have ran back to her, then dropped his jaw and start stuttering when he noticed that, although she is fine, her shirt would have been ripped wide open. Gaining his senses, he'd offer her his own vest and then we go on.  
Why didn't I do that? Because I realised that Piccolo had too many drops that she MIGHT not be Human, and needed something to contradict. Plus Mari's cool and Piccolo travels around with Jin too much as it is. Wasn't much comedy in the last chapter. Well, comedy was planned (unless you don't find the concept of Piccolo staring at a woman's chest with a huge blush on his face funny. Atleast I managed to keep some of that).  
  
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"Around mid-January, I left North Capital to West Capital as an errand for Nama. I was to help Taifu out with some things and escort her to some sort of dinner, where she would be discussing issues with a business affiliate. I went along with it, not necessarily needing the money, but since after the event with Jin's wound, I had become edgy around her--"  
  
Chi-Chi grinned widely. "You felt shy?"  
"Do you do intend to continue disturbing me like that? If I have to stop, it wont bother me at all. I really don't want to be narrating this to you anyway."  
"OK. I'll be quiet."  
  
I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, hoping that I'd forget about her as I spoke. "Most of my trip with Taifu was uneventful. It wasn't until we got to the restaurant that anything intriguing happened.  
"It was a high-end place, so I had to wear that damned suit that Uwaki bought me. One thing that I don't quite get about you Humans is your necessity to act like a bunch of pompous imbeciles time to time, dressing up in weird garbs and going to 'prestigious' water-holes to squawk about pointless aptitudes. You'd think with the 'eloquence' that these people have that they would have less idiotic pick-up lines than in the bar, but, no.  
"Anyway, it was a while before her friend would come, so we went ahead and ordered. However, the glasses of water scarcely hit our table when I saw who it was: Ms. Bulma Briefs herself, along with her boyfriend and escort, Yamcha. I couldn't help but to chortle. This would prove to be an entertaining evening, I thought.  
"As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened and I could see a drop of sweat form. Taifu lead the introductions. 'Good evening, Bulma. Yamcha.' She shook their hands. 'This is Dorai Berumotto.'  
"I held my hand out to shake. Briefs blushed and gave her introduction, but Yamcha was reluctant to grab my hand, as if I would have torn his arm off. We sat back down and proceeded with the average small talk. Taifu seemed to wish to emphasize on me whenever I seemed that I wasn't talking enough about myself: dancing, bartending, being single. I always tried to divert the subject away from me before she would be given a chance to bring up Jin.  
"Yamcha didn't impact the conversation at all. He did little more than sit there and sip at his water, time to time being lightly slapped by Bulma's purse for putting his elbows on the table. Even so, he edged closer and closer to her. I assumed that he was going to grab her and run if I decided to attack. When this thought came to mind, I would laugh lightly. It was really humorous when Taifu mentioned the day that we went to the ball park and he was 'jumped by a gang'. He would writhe like there was a bad itch that he couldn't get to. The man was practically shaking in his seat, fully prepared to flee whenever danger hit.  
"'Dorai-san? There you go again! You never do talk about yourself,' Taifu started up again, 'Why don't you tell us about the Berumotto family? I'm sure it's got some pretty good roots to develop such a developed stalk like you.'  
"I already learned to disregard some of her vocabulary oddities. 'It's not like it's an important lineage.'  
"'But surely you can at least tell us of your parents!' she said. Bulma nodded, and the scarred man gained a new grin.  
"'Yeah.' His face grew amused, perhaps triumphant. 'Tell us about your father. What kind of man is he?'  
"I thought for a moment, trying to find the best answer. 'My father...' I began, '...was a king among men, I was told. He was strong willed and confident. But really, I never met him. You see,' I returned the grin to Yamcha, 'He died before I was borne. So you see, I cannot elaborate too much on the subject. Not enough for a decent conversation.'  
"'Oh that's so sad!' Bulma exclaimed. 'Don't you think so, Yamcha?'  
"He only grumbled.  
"The food had just come to us when I felt a burning sensation on my hand. I looked down to my ring. It was glowing red. I silently cursed 'Damnit! It wasn't supposed to do this after the first month!' and excused myself and excused myself without hesitation to the restroom. Naturally, it wasn't long before that Human would follow.  
"The ring shorted out anon I got into the bathroom. 'I think it's a little odd to follow another man into a mensroom. Wouldn't you agree?'  
"'What are you planning here, Piccolo?'  
"'Nothing.'  
"'You don't expect me to believe that!'  
"'You don't expect to be able to stop me if I was going to do something.'  
"This seemed to anger him more. 'If you dare touch Bulma--'  
"'And what would I do with her? My ultimate goal is to take over the world. I doubt she could help me.'  
"'Then what are you doing here?!'  
"'I really don't see how that's any of your business.' The ring came back on. 'Ah, there we go. Well, we can't leave those women waiting for us, can we?'  
"Stop trying to avoid the subject! All I have to do is take that ring and...' He lunged at me, rather foolish of him. It didn't take much effort to merely avoid him, dodging all advances, but soon it grew tiresom and I kneed him in the stomach. I exited, leaving him behind. As I approached the table again, I noticed that there was another couple in the empty seats.  
"Nama looked back at me. 'Ah, there you are Dorai! I thought I would bring someone with me and come myself. It has been a while since I had real food, you know.'  
"I sat back in my own chair, which was beside his 'date', trying to avoid eye contact with her. I knew perfectly well that it was Jin. They had gone into another conversation before Yamcha finally joined us again. He looked at the additions with a quizzing expression. Taifu proceeded in all the introductions for them, as she felt of herself as something of a host in the meeting.  
"It was a while before Jin joined in it. 'Yamcha. You were in the Tenkaichi Budokai, weren't you?' Stab.  
"He looked somewhat nervous from the recognition. 'Yes. I was. We're you there?'  
"She shook her head. 'But I watch the recording of it almost every time I have the chance.' Stab two.  
"'Do you?' He laughed, scratching his head. 'Most women don't like martial arts that much. Then again you look pretty strong as well as--' He felt obligated to stop due to Bulma's stare.  
"She sipped from a glass of wine. 'I get by, I suppose. The finals were certainly the most interesting.' This stab could have killed me.  
"He smiled. 'Yeah, Son Goku won in the end. He is the superior fighter.'  
"There was a pause, and she nodded. I felt inclined to leave, to escape, but I knew that if I did, I would only be followed.  
"Taifu sensed my stress, apparently, and decided to choose some words to calm it. However she couldn't have chosen worse words, I believe. 'So, how long have you and Jin lived together Dorai?'  
"Naturally, I almost fell into my own plate. Jin reacted in a similar fashion. We both glared at our boss. 'Nama...!'  
"He fidgited a bit. 'Heh, sorry. Slipped out in a conversation. But you guys do make quite a good couple. Nee-san agrees, right?'  
"'Indeed.' Taifu turned to us completely. 'Why don't you two go ahead and make it official. Jin, a guy like Dorai is hard to come by. Best to hook and line them while you can!'  
"I unwittingly covered my face with my hands, probably trying to hide my purple-red cheeks. Yamcha tried to contain his laughter, biting into his lip until it looked like it might bleed, but he could hold it off for long and joined in. 'Perhaps that would be good for a guy like you, Dorai. A good, strong woman to protect you from--Yeow!' I stopped him by singing his hand under the table. He drew it out and blew on it, trying to blame someone with a cigarette in the neighboring table for the burn.  
"Looking to my left, I saw that Jin was trying to ignore the subject as much as possible. Her heart beat had picked up and become irregular. Was she nervous? I thought. She is... does that mean something? Once again, I cursed to myself silently, trying to get my mind off of such hopeful ideas.  
  
"The dinner ended. I went outside, standing at the entrance as rain began to fall. It didn't take long for Yamcha to follow me.  
"'So,' he chuckled, 'You've got a Human fianceé now? Going to rule the world together?'  
"'Don't you think that you're on thin ice as it is?'  
"'Well, she wasn't exactly the most amiable girl. She was laughing when Bulma was talking about the co-worker that practically died from getting stuck in some assembly gears! She sounds perfect for you!'  
"I grabbed him by the collar, intending to throw him, when I heard Jin's voice behind me.  
"'Dorai. Nama just left.'  
"I turned to her.'I suppose Taifu wouldn't mind bringing you with us.'  
"'Taifu left with him. They went back to East Capital to drop her off.'  
"'You mean they left us alone?!' She nodded, and I groaned in response. 'What the Hell are we supposed to do?' I looked over at Yamcha again, and grinned. 'Mind spotting us some money for a cab?'  
"'What?! You don't really--' He stopped when he noticed me cracking my knuckles. 'Well, then again, I suppose I could. Where are you going?'  
"Jin blinked to his change of moods. 'North Capital.'  
"'N-North Capital?! Do you know how much--' Once again, he stopped himself, then continued hastily. 'Sure. OK. I'll give you the money. In fact, I'll even hail a car down for you.'  
"I smiled over to Jin. Her brow was raised, and she whispered, 'Did you threaten him or something?'  
  
"As we went home, we, oddly, didn't remind silent anymore. We talked about basically everything that we did while I shied away from her--"  
  
"So you were shy!" Chi-Chi said with exultation.  
  
"What did I say earlier?!" I bellowed. My threats aren't empty, I thought, but I don't want to stop remembering it now.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sailor Taichichi Vegeta - You bloody scared me when I check on my stats after about, oh, an hour, and find that it had grown by 10 reviews! Well, thanks for all of them. But, you did miss chapter 6, I believe. Lol. Took me a while to write this chapter, but it is long. I'll sneak a little piece of info on the next one, since I got so many reviews: it's planned to be the climax! And, Btw, despite rising belief that may be in existance, I don't hate Yamcha. I think of him a little more positively than neutral to be honest. 


	17. Valentine Daquiri: Part 1

Disclaimer: Chapter one. This chapter is pretty druggy, so... be careful guys. Turn your rated 'R's on in the future, just in case. The warning is set. Locked, loaded, and off we go  
  
Some of the chapter titles (Chapter 8: Peridot Margaritaville; Chapter 16: Emerald Cosmopolitan) were brought to you by my good friend Catherine. Nice suggestions, eh? Anyway, like I have promised, this is the climax. By no means does that mean its the last chapter! Don't confuse those things! Just because you're an American doesn't mean the pivital point is always just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the last line. Falling action does occur!  
  
Is this really a Humor? Maybe it's been something like "Angst" or "Drama" all along... Damn you, story! Don't do things like that!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"It entered into February. The weather was still cold. Snow would still fall from time to time. Immediately I noticed that most of the girls (including Uwaki) were becoming more affectionate, and in reaction, the men had changed from slobs over a steak, into almost civilized suitors. I, at first, payed little mind to it, but it started getting hard to ignore when I found more and more odd cards and notes along with the money passed to me by the women. Apparently, Jin was getting similar letters."  
  
"Valentines?" Chi-Chi said, "I suppose you were jealous of how many Jin was getting, right?"  
  
I shook my head. "What? Am I supposed to be?  
  
"To continue: one day, I was going to the pub, which proved to be a bit difficult as there were police everywhere outside the building. According to what the uniform that questioned me said, a corpse was found in a dumpster in a nearby ally. A quick, clean death, he said. Not as if there was anything interesting to witness, I proceeded to my destination.  
"Uwaki practically pounced onto me. Not much to avoid, really, but it annoyed me all the same. I looked for Jin, she was supposed to be there an hour before me, but she wasn't behind the bar. I listened carefully, and heard her voice in the office. Coming closer, I realised that the conversation seemed to be over the phone.  
"'Did you really get that message? Are you certain that it isn't mistaken?' Her voice didn't sound as stoic as usual. It sounded more bitter. 'Very well, but is it fixed yet? After all, I can't quite go back with a busted vehicle.' A pause. 'I see... Well, I'll get to you as soon as I can about that. I have some things to finish; loose ends to tie. Yes. Yes, all right. OK, goodbye.' She hung up and heaved a sigh: a heavy, terminal sounding sigh. I heard a chair move, footsteps, and the door opened. When she saw me, she became startled. 'D-Dorai? Is there something that you need?'  
"'I was going to ask you something like that, Jin. Were you on the phone?'  
"'Yes. I was. Why?'  
"'With who? Someone from your home?'  
"This seemed to strike her. She only muttered and walked past me. I kept myself from pressing the subject any further, but it was nerve-racking to see Jin's mood. I found myself wishing for her shift to end so that she could leave. I even considered not going back to the apartment that night, the thought being carried as far as abandoning this Ningen project and going back to my training. However, against my intentions and my deductions, I grabbed her and pulled her aside when she was about to leave.  
"'Jin. Please tell me what that call was about.'  
"It was a while before her eyes would even meet mine. 'Did you hear any of the conversation?'  
"'The end, I believe.'  
"'I did that call here so that I you wouldn't over hear it at the apartment.'  
"'Just me?'  
"She stayed silent for a bit. 'It's just not something that I feel I can discuss with you right now.'  
"'You're making it sound quite grievous. Could it really impact me that much?'  
"'If you're restraining me like this, it has to.'  
"Upon hearing this, I released her (the reaction was more out of surprise than guilt). Even though she was free, she didn't go far; she stayed within the inconspicuous shadow that I gathered her into. I exhaled and let my shoulders slump a bit, trying to brush off the tensity.  
"'I'm being rather moronic, aren't I?' I continued, 'I'm sure that it's about your home, though. Are you being called to return?'  
"Her stare wasn't broken or wounded. It wasn't as much angry as it seemed annoyed. No, not even annoyed. It's hard to place. It was hard, but not sharp. Rather gray, but more negative than neutral. I suppose...displeasure? Well, whatever it was, it reigned our space for a while. I recall the background moving, the voices of customers and staff, the outside conversations and shifts, but it seemed behind a glass pane.  
"She finally spoke. 'I am. I have nothing burdening my abilities to return now.'  
"'What about the loose ends?'  
"'What?'  
"'You said you had some matters to take care of on the phone.'  
"She suspired, and her gaze turned to her naturally resigned look. 'You're right. And I already addressed what they are. Dorai, does this bother you that greatly?'  
"'So, I am what's left over? I am the remaining problem?'  
"'I suppose that is what I stated.'  
  
I've grown easily to hate Chi-Chi's visionary mien. "She loved you, then?"  
  
I gnarred at her, but didn't indulge in flinging curses this time. "In a different situation, I'd say so. But here, I felt almost insulted, as if she accused that I forced her to hold any admiration towards me. Her whole message seemed to scream, 'This is you're doing! My feelings are a paradox to you. I loathe you because I love you.'  
"'Shouldn't you get to packing then?' I said this quietly, but it was as stern as a shout. 'Far be it for I to hold you from returning to where you belong.' I practically spat these words.  
"Her expression didn't change. 'Do you want me to pay the rest of my half for the month?' I didn't answer. 'I'll leave it on the table then.'  
"The animosity in me fell into qualm. My voice, though I kept it steady, betrayed it in the undertones. 'Don't expect me to come home tonight. I--' I tried to pull something off topic out of my mind. 'I'm going to a Valentine's Party at that club in the Beryl off-ally. You remember it. Loam Bistro?'  
"She nodded. 'Yeah, nice place, considering its location.'  
"Before my anger could rise again, I left, causing Nama to call after me. I learned later that Jin took my remaining hour and I was not to be cuffed for my actions, though she obtained a small bonus."  
  
"Loam Bistro really did have an impressive set-up. Unlike most nightclubs with the sharp strobes and the thundering and sometimes questionable music, this one was a bit more old-fashioned. In fact, I might associate it more as a pub. But it was in a back-ally for a reason: it was one of the hotspots of drug trafficking in North Capital.  
"Almost as soon as I walked in, I started hitting heavy. I kept asking for strong drinks, often double shots. Today, the party was supposed to be like one long happy hour, so I indulged in it. I reached for my pipe and started puffing off the blend that I kept with me, but I ran out quickly.  
"I didn't have to wait long before another source came my way. Someone was, professedly, generous enough to pass out some tablets, which I assumed to be Ecstasy. This I declined.  
"'You sure?' He seemed somewhat disappointed, then he snapped his fingers. 'That's right, you smoke mostly opium.' With this, he pulled out an intermixture and set it up for me, even going so far as lighting it. I nodded my thanks and he scurried off.  
  
"I found myself muttering some of my troubles to the club's own bartender, not allowing (or remembering) details to pass. After half an hour of this, I conjecture, things seemed to get out of focus. Many of the others, the ones who took the tablet, started acting violently. My unsteady vision made it hard to discern that whatever I saw was real, and even if I was sober, I may have a difficulty believing it. They were all fighting, using anything they could grab as a weapon. Blood was starting to splatter and pool, and flesh was sliced and torn. I heard limbs crack and break. This didn't concern me, though. Really, the only reason I think I noticed was because they attacked me as well.  
"Suffocation seemed to have seized me; I only wanted to get to the door. I wanted to be able to breathe. But the bodies flung themselves at me, trying their best to do something, anything to me. Though I shook them off with little problem, I accidentally killed at least one of them. I'm not sure how, but I distinctly remember his head flopping over from a broken neck.  
"When I reached the outside, I remember the door shutting behind me and the air coming to me. I know that I walked to the apartment, and I'm sure I got there myself safely, but I don't have any clear images from after the moment that I exited the establishment."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you guys are liking this one, because my other fanfics may be abandoned for a while. Why? For one, I've got writer's block with many of them. Second, my favorite game is back on. Chances are that the only stories that may update is this one and Troak (since he's one of my characters in that game), though you might see the last chapter of the Interpretations of Voltaire soon. 


	18. Valentine Daquiri: Part 2

Disclaimer: Chapter one. Yahoo.  
  
Just realised that Sailor Taichichi Vegeta did, in fact, review chapter 6 in the past. Heheh, sorry. (Not sure if you noticed my mistake before you read this) Anyway, for a climax, it seems kind of uneventful, doesn't it? Well, I think so. It's still the climax! I have spoken!...Though I'm no longer sure if it is a comedy o.O;;;  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I blacked out at some point. I'm not quite sure when, or exactly where, but I'm pretty sure that I was in the apartment.  
"After I fell unconscious, I dreamed. When the disfigured shaped and unworldly colors within was passed, I saw that familiar figure again.  
"'Piccolo, my son,' Father said, 'You were supposed to be perfect. You were supposed to not have the same faults I have. Then again, I didn't implant this mistake in your mind, did I?'  
"'What mistake?' My voice almost seemed disembodied from myself.  
"He shook his head. 'You don't remember. Well, it's better if you don't. I remembered it when I did it. When I accidentally killed my to-be Daimajoou.'  
"I felt some awkwardness to that phrase. 'Are you talking about Mother?'  
"Father laughed. 'No, no. I didn't get any farther with her than you did with yours.'  
"'With mine...' Then I panicked. 'D-did I... did I kill Jin?!'  
"'No. You didn't lose her yet. It's a good thing that she's stronger than you are.' He chuckled a bit, then closed his eyes in a resolute manner. 'Then again, you're going to lose her because she's stronger than you, aren't you? Like I said, she can only marry a warrior of greater power.'  
"'What the Hell is she?! An Amazon?!'  
"He blinked. 'Hey, you know, you might be right. Don't Amazon's have that same custom?'  
"'Just tell me what happened! What did I do? What is she going to do? What--'  
"He grabbed my shoulder. 'You're acting like a narrator in one of those soap opera things. Look, there's nothing to worry about. And she won't leave too soon. She can't leave until she pays off all her debts. Plus...' He grinned, as if he knew a secret. 'She's got some left over business to attend to.'  
"'But she said...'  
"'She wasn't exactly lying at any point but...Nah. You know, this is your problem. I'm off.' He turned to walk away.  
"'Wait!' I shouted. 'What about your "Daimajoou"?'  
"He looked back to me. 'I got really messed up one night while I was posing as a Human. I was depressed, because I felt I had to tell her the truth about me. She was a frail woman, but spirited...' He sighed. 'I drank so much and got really out of my head. When I went to tell her my feelings, to explain to her everything, she rejected me. I guess I wouldn't take "No" for an answer and I over-powered her.'  
"'So, you killed her?'  
"Father shook his head. 'Not exactly. Something worse. But because of it, she committed suicide.'  
"Before I could question any more, he disappeared, saying, in a pleased tone, 'You haven't anything to worry about. Even if you told her everything, she wouldn't refuse you like Mebana did to me.'  
  
"After time passed, I felt a hand on my left cheek and I opened my eyes. My body was warm, and my forehead seemed moist and cool with a slight weight upon it. The first visual image I could discern was a face, glowing slightly with some sort of changing luminance in the darkness. I blinked and saw Jin, looking down at me with a calm, steady semblance.  
"'You doing all right, Dorai?' Her utterance seemed to sweep like an echo.  
"I tried to nod, but I found it difficult to move. It was as if all the wires from my brain to my voluntary muscles were unplugged. But, I wasn't in any pain, so I knew that I didn't show apprehension.  
"'I guess you are. You gave me a bit of distress, the way you came in. Do you remember anything?'  
"'Not after...' I managed to push out in a raspy buzz, 'Not after I left the club...What happened?'  
"'You overdosed. Well, that's not entirely correct. Your blend was spiked. You're lucky to be alive. Could you tell me what you remember?'  
"I closed my eyes again, trying to separate and fit together the events as I told her. By the time I was finished, my perception improved enough to allow me to realise my location: I was on the living room couch. The television was on with the sound low; it was night. My body was covered with a blanket. There was a damp rag on my forehead. Jin's palm was the one I felt on my face, and my head was cushioned on her lap.  
"Upon my conclusion, she seemed to get worried. 'You're temperature is rising.' She took the cloth and dipped in in a bowl of water, trying to ring it out with one hang, then placed it above my brow again. 'And your face is looking like its getting swollen, all purple and red like it's bruised...'  
"'D-don't worry. That's just...' I gulped. 'That's just how I... blush...'  
"She blinked, then grinned, the way she always grinned. 'Well, you're either doing fine to be able to be flustered, or terribly to be showing that much vulnerability.'  
"'No mercy to the down-trodden, I see,' I snapped back, somewhat amused.  
"She gave a laugh, then resolved back into her smirk. 'Down-trodden is right. You were coughing up blood and everything before you passed out. It was really a difficult decision on whether or not I should call the hospital or tend to you myself.'  
"'Why didn't you get the hospital?'  
"She thought a moment. 'Well, you stopped Nama from calling that day that I got hit by the truck. Thought I should return the favor.'  
"I managed a smirk and a small laugh, then I turned more serious. 'What did I do, besides cough up blood?'  
"'I'm not telling.'  
"'What?'  
"'I don't want to tell you. You don't need to know, anyway. Better that you don't.'  
"'Did I do something weird?'  
"'Depends on what you think is weird.'  
"Growling, I tried to sit up. It didn't work. 'Damnit, is it that bad?'  
"Her eyes rolled. 'Don't worry about it. You were just acting like a smashed moron. More important,' She tried to sit back and stretch. 'is what happened for you to have that happen. While you were out, I called around.'  
"'And?'  
"'Everyone else that was at that party died.' she said, 'Many were pulled apart and or trampled in the violence, set off by a mind-altering drug that they all had in their systems. Others, like you, were poisoned with blends laced with chlorine, lit by matches that had ammonia releases. Somebody was aiming for a mass murder. Ingenious, almost.'  
"I frowned. It was like my territory was breached and someone else was trying to take my title as the Devil. 'Normally, that's commendable, but...'  
"Her grin turned malicious. 'Yeah, I know. We need to take care of them, don't we?' To this energy, I laughed, but I began to cough, and my innards were struck with pain. Her palm returned to my cheek, and her unoccupied hand took the rag and doused it again. She wiped my face from the sweat with it. 'You just need some rest. I'll gather up some more information after you dose off, all right?' "'Yeah..' I coughed, and I reached for a glass of water that was nearby, raising my head enough to drink from it. "'Yeah, I'll be fine.' I lay back onto her lap and shut my eyes.  
"I heard her scoff again, then, after some minutes of silence, mutter in a dynamic meant not be heard, 'My Dorai...' Then I felt her lips against my brows, but as much as I wanted to get up and look at her, I wasn't able to pull myself out of my lethargy before I was asleep."  
  
"She kissed you?" I decided, right there, that if Goku and Gohan were to die in the upcoming battle with the androids, I'm killing this woman.  
"On the brow, yes. Big deal. Most mothers do that for their children, right?"  
"But you two were in love, right? I mean, any gesture between two people in love is always magnified!"  
This, coming from a woman whose husband barely even remembered her when they were engaged. "You watch too many Dramas. That has to be it. You've seen every Romance in existence and now that there's more material, you have to indulge in it!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mebana - Female Flower. Nice name for Piccolo's step-mother, eh? =p You guys should be thankful. In stead of going to my senior prom, I wrote fanfiction and played HRH. Well, it's not like I really wanted to go to a social event where I'd have to listen to crappy music and stand around in an uncomfortable get up like Jin had to. Though, it does remind me that I don't have a boyfriend anymore, which makes me somewhat happy, 'cause it was a 5-year, long-distance relationship with a guy with a huge inferiority complex. 


	19. Sloe Fizz

Disclaimer: *puts up a sign, reading: Go to chapter one*  
  
I rather like the idea of being "an inspiration to piccolo fans everywhere". I think it's an interesting title. (btw, my breakup wasn't all that hard, so sympathy was not required, but I appreciate it anyway =p). Anyway, will our young Daimaou fight for his own title? Not to sound like a show announcer... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"By Jin's will, I was forced to stay in bed a few days. Luckily, she was gone quite a lot, either working or researching the incident. I gave her as good of a description that I could muster from my faltered memory of the party of the guy who passed out the tablets, but everyday, when came back, she asked me questions, trying to clarify a bit more between facts.  
"I had begun training more seriously again. With so much time and Jin always off, I was able to meditate to my heart's content. Sometimes, more for amusement than for exercise, I would look out the window and cause random flukes of nature to happen: purses flying from one's shoulder, cars tipping over, cracking streets, falling booths, small earthquakes. At times, this would alert Jin that I was restless (she figured that it was me early on) and she would come soon after with a bag of rental videos or something of that sort.  
"There was a time while we were watching movies that I had gotten tired of sitting on the couch, since, while Jin was near, I was never allowed to move around much, and I attempted several times to get up and leave, only to be dragged back down to the cushions by her grasp.  
"'What the Hell... can't I at least walk around outside a bit?' I scolded at her. 'I'm not that sick!'  
"'I know.'  
"'What do you mean "you know"?'  
"'It's revenge,' she scoffed. 'for all those times you drug me aside to talk, as if I needed to be lectured.'  
"'You take offense to some of the most abnormal things.'  
"'I'm not going to disagree with you on that. May I ask you a question?'  
"'Do I have something better to do?'  
"She laughed and moved closer to me. 'Why do you live in North Capital?'  
"There was silence. 'What do you mean, "Why"?'  
"'Obviously you don't have to live here. And you aren't native here. Is there something binding you?'  
"'No,' I turned my head, remembering how I could have left several months ago and decided not to. 'I stay here by my own free will.'  
"'Is that so?' I felt her leave to the other side. Purposelessly, I followed her.  
"'This is bizarre,' she said. It took me a moment to realise I said it in synchronization with her. It wasn't too uncommon for us to say the same thing at the same time, which would often make us separate temporarily since it could be nerve-wracking. This time wasn't an exception. She soon announced her leave, commencing that she was off to do more research on the murders.  
  
"Some hours later, I finished my training just as I heard Jin's approach. She entered and threw two yellow envelopes to me.  
"'What's this?' I asked.  
"She moved over to the television and sat, her back to me. 'From what you told me and all that I've gathered, I narrowed it down to those guys. Think you could figure out which it is, if any?'  
"I emptied the contents of the one on top and studied the pictures and documents. 'This is from the police archives. How did you get them?'  
"'You think with my speed that I'd have to ask?'  
"'Good point,' After looking carefully at the picture, I placed the papers back into its container and pushed it aside, reaching for the other. I examined the leaves, considering the photographs seriously. 'This one. Jiinzu Kaaki. Alias:..' My eyes widened as I flipped the page. 'How many names does this guy have? Who does he think he is? Samuel Clemens?'  
"'Maybe he does. Check to see if he uses that name, too.'  
"I handed the papers to her over the couch back. 'Well, we found the guy. Now what?'  
"'I'll start tracking tomorrow,'she said, 'It's too late to go out right now.'  
"I got up from my lotus position on the ground. 'What do you mean? It's only 7--' She stopped my speech with her fingers on my lips, which were soon replaced with her own set. It..." I gulped silently. "It wasn't exactly a kiss; Not much more than if our shoulders or palms were pressed together. When she withdrew, I managed to shake it off quickly and resume with a different subject. 'Earlier you asked why I remain in North Capital. Do you really want to know? If I answer, will you answer the same to me first?'  
"She didn't seem surprised. In fact, she only sighed, not moving her expression. 'I still have debts. Plus... you asked me to.'  
"'I did? When? I don't remem--' Then I knew what she was talking about. 'What all did I do that night, Jin?'  
"'Nothing too important. I told you that before.'  
"'How is it not important?'  
"'Because it doesn't change anything. Now, will you give me your answer?'  
"'I--' I stopped myself to keep from entering a hostile tone. 'Because there's people that I can relate to here.'  
"'Is that so?'  
"'Well... not people... one person...' I tried to avoid her glance again. It didn't seem to matter though. She dropped the subject and started looking through the papers herself, apparently bringing together a picture of the situation. It didn't take long for my own uneasiness to subside and I was able to scrutinize the evidence as well.  
"We called it a night after a few hours. It seemed there was enough recent information in the file to allow us to already begin planning our own counter-strike. Even though we were sure that we could slaughter these people with ease, we seemed worried for the other, conscerned that, since I seemed so close to death myself, that either one of us could get killed. Jin herded me into the bedroom after she insisted I take a shower."  
  
Chi-Chi sniggered. "Did she--"  
"No!" I jeered back at her. "You can be fucking vulgar sometimes! She slept on the sofa that night!"  
She crossed her arms and huffed. "Accusing me of being vulgar... Well? Did you two ever sleep in the bed together? I mean sleep! Nothing else!"  
"Actually..." I paused, trying to restrain any emotions that could come from the memory. "We slept once before that. The night before Valentine's"  
"What! Why didn't you say anything about it?!"  
I only stared at her, waiting for her to allow me to go to the next thing. I didn't want to talk about it because, earlier that night, Jin was watching the tournament again. It sure as Hell didn't help my conflicting thoughts when she pressed against me so much that night as well. Or that she was sighing like a steam engine during the Finals, as usual. "Just let me continue so that I can finish this damned story sometime today!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This chapter is brief! Ugh... it's a filler really. One of those fluffy fillers. *shiver* Anyway, I was thinking about maybe making a fanfic about Mebana and Piccolo Daimaou, like a prequel, but then I thought, "You're already making a sequal, and planning two more, to this thing!" So, the idea's up for grabs if anyone wants it =P. If you do, do me a favor and tell me first. If not, I'll just grab it whenever I need a new thing to work on and start up. 


	20. Shaken, not Stirred

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
Well, that last chapter was writer's block overcome with a teddy bear found randomly sprawled out on the floor. STV: Absolutely. He is Jeans Khaki. It's an odd name, but Jiinzu-chan's going to have to live with it. Now, the Interpretations are finished for anyone who's curious about Jin's POV. Warning, she is VERY evil. Infact, the really long (3000 words), really descriptive last chapter has the kind of content that might bump it up from PG-13 to R.  
BTW, has anyone noticed that quite a few of the chapters have ended with Piccolo going to bed?  
  
"Work continued per-usual. Uwaki was your average nymphomaniac; Shuran continued the path of a philanderer; Mari kept to her unruffled comfort zone. Questions weren't asked; they all assumed that I was ill. Overall, everything was quite stable.  
  
"We already tracked down our quarry to a group in one of the more decrepit neighborhoods (not too far from Jin's old room, which wasn't unexpected). After keeping surveillance for a while, we decided to begin by having some fun warnings dropped on them.  
"Jin smirked as she peered through the smudged glass. 'I say we make it look like a shooting.'  
"'So they'll suspect one another, right?' I chortled, knowing that since they all had a piece, they were all likely to have done it, especially when we're on the 15th floor.  
"She opened the window slowly and without a sound. We both picked a pebble from the concrete and 'shot' an unsuspecting gang member, complete with a mimicked sound. She shut the window hurriedly and we flattened against the building, listening as several running steps came to the area, followed by loud yelling and accusations. We grinned to each other and jumped down, then ran off, howling with laughter.  
  
"Unfortunately, suspicion dies as fast as it's borne in those guys. Instead of lashing out at one another, they immediately went searching around the other gangs, and outward battles started. Underground warfare isn't too interesting, really. It's always kept at a low scale to not attract attention, and all their half decent fighters rely on hidden weapons and steroids to get anything done. Watching their battles could be about as amusing as a cockfight: two lower life-forms, smacking at each other with razors.  
"No more large incidents occurred, however the murder patterns remained: in inside politics. Our target, Jiinzu Kaaki, seemed to be working on his own. He was slowly getting rid of his enemies and the people in his way with this technique. We weren't quite sure why he targeted the whole club that night until we eavesdropped on one of his conversations with a lackey he gained.  
"'This city,' he cackled, 'will be mine. It needs a guy with brains and youth, not sentimental rubbish and superstition. I mean, all those guys, braggin' on how they were released from prison by Piccolo Daimaou and managed to keep out when the large crackdown of law came after that "Great Devil King" got killed. Is that something to brag about?'  
"If I actually had kept a written list of everyone I wanted to kill, this kid would have just gained some stars beside his name.  
"His underling tilted his head. 'But they're going to notice that something's up, right? I mean, someone's going to notice.'  
"'This,' Jiinzu continued to beam his arrogance. 'is an act of the new Hidan no Kami-sama! If need be, I will bring down another warning and slaughter my unbelievers!'  
"I glanced over to Jin with a deep grimace. 'He mutters a lot of stupid words.'  
"'I have to agree.' She sighed. 'How do you want to go about killing him then?'  
"Her casual tone lightened my mood a bit. 'We could flog him to death.'  
"'That sounds pretty fun, actually. How about we get bamboo rods and cut slits in them, then soak them with salt-water?'  
"I covered my face to keep my laughter from becoming too audible and waved for her to quit her japes. It would seem difficult as we were standing on a concrete ledge at the side of a hotel building, which would normally require minimal movement when you're up about 30 or so floors.  
"'We'll have a new batch of tablets for Jailbait,' Jiinzu continued, 'just in case we need to do to them as we did to Loam Bistro. Those ammonia matches are hard to make though, and even harder to get someone to make. Are you sure that everybody who goes to that club uses Ecstasy?'  
"The lackey scratched his head. 'Some use meth. Actually, meth is growing again, I think.'  
"'Well,' Jiinzu leaned back in his chair again, trying his best to imitate a crime boss. 'I can disguise it as ice, too. And I've already perfected a version that can dissolve into alcohol without losing its power. If a demonstration is needed,' A wide grin stretched across his face, 'St. Patrick's Day would be the perfect time to do it.'  
"Jin and I both groaned. 'I will not,' Jin said, 'deal with him on that day. I refuse! I have better things to do than smack around a baby on my last day here.'  
"I was about to agree with her before she spat out those last words. 'You're leaving after St. Patrick's Day?'  
"She looked at me as if a secret had just been slipped, but then smiled. 'I can't stay any longer than that, Dorai. I'm actually supposed to leave before that. But, I figured, I should at least stay for that day, right?'  
"It took me a while before I could say anything. I wasn't listening to the gabbing in the room, nor was I really trying to think of anything to speak. I was only staring. But I suddenly crashed back into the subject. 'Then we better get him before-hand.'  
"The phrase 'formula is on the flagpole' snatched my attention back to the boy's constant muttering. 'Did you hear that?' asked Jin.  
"'The flagpole..' I repeated, 'Which flagpole was he talking about?'  
"'The one three floors up and two windows to the right,' She pointed to the metal stake above us. From it hung the flag of some forgotten country. Even from the little light that came through the windows, marks of blue ink, crowded onto both sides, were visible. We left the one-sided conversation of the pseudo-crime-boss and quickly jumped up the floors to the pole. Perched upon the concrete ledge on either side of the bar, we stared at the fluttering piece of cloth. Jin reached for the rope and began pulling it in. As it came closer, I released the rings from the hooks and pulled it towards me. But then, a large tremor rattled through the building's frame, and a gust took the flag from my weakened grasp into an obscure corner below.  
"'Idiot,' Jin hissed at me before jumping after it. She disappeared into the opaque shadows, over a particularly black rectangle of surface. In many of the rooms in the hotel, there was commotion. People inside were trying to figure out what the quake, which I figured to have originated from the basement, was.  
"I, however, didn't have much time to ponder this myself. From the area of darkness that both Jin and the flag fell in, I heard a sound which I could most associate with a frog landing heavily on a lilly-pad, then Jin's voice, shouting some sort of obscenity, accompanied by the frantic splashing of water. I lept down to a lighted area and walked quickly towards the four-square area.  
"Peering into the shadows, I could dignify a wrangled, black tarp floating on the surface of a pool, shimmering with the lights from the hotel. I smirked, tempted to laugh at the idea that Jin had fallen in, but I managed to stifle it and looked around to see if she had climbed out yet. I didn't see anyone. I didn't hear anything except the inquisitions and pattering about in the institution behind me. I tried to stare into the water, but the beams only bounced off the surface as glare, leaving the resivoir underneath with its inky appearance.  
"'Jin?' I called out. There was no answer. I called her name again. The response was the same. Could she have drowned? was my first thought. To this, I shook my head. A woman like her barely seemed capable of dying, even if the Apocalypse threatened her, let alone drowning in a hotel pool. Despite this string of logic, worry was already seeping through me. I stepped closer to the edge and squinted even harder to see past the reflections into the sooty space whilst straining my ears to try to hear any reverberation of a current that could be caused by her movement. Not a wrinkle went across the glaze; Not a waft from beneath.  
"Quite suddenly a hand shot from the water and its heel bashed into my forehead, sending me back a few meters. I brought my palm to the assaulted spot above my brow as I heard a body drag itself from the pool, followed by a string of insults.  
"Despite what names that were being hurled at me, I smiled. 'Jin! You're all right!'  
"'What do you mean by that? Did you think I would die from something so stupid!' Her drenched clothes clung to her body, as did her hair, and were dripping into a puddle on the cement ground. She had the flag clutched in her right hand. 'It's a good thing this bloody thing was written in permanent ink! If it wasn't, your fatuity would have had the thing diluted in the water! Imbecile! Moron!'  
"Her verbal attacks didn't phase me. 'You look quite wet...'  
"'Care to rephrase that?!'  
"I would have offered her the light jacket that I had on since it was still February, but I refrained since I knew it would only be refused with more insults and rants. She briskly walked by me, her hands in fists at her sides and her shoulders hunched in anger. As I went after her, she threw the flag at my face and sputtered another line of curses. 'That is the last time I go hanging off the side of a skyscraper with you.' I heard her spit.  
"Even after I pulled the soggy mess from me, I still couldn't help but to smile."  
  
I do not own Mark Twain from the last chapter =p. Hidan - Gang, though that wasn't the word that bothered Piccolo =p. And SilverWolfe3636, since you and James Brown so want to know when Jin figures out who Dorai really is, here's a hint: She doesn't know he's Piccolo when the story is being told. XD Oh... and Chi-Chi seemed to have kept her interjections to a minimum this chapter! 


	21. Midori Ales on the Top Shelf

Disclaimer: 'Tis in Chapter 1. No lie.  
  
Yeah, that last chapter was a bit... errr... well, that's what happens when you write a chapter through the course of a week....Something interesting though: I, out of boredum, got out my cards. I got tired of Solitare quickly, so I decided to have "Jin" and "Dorai" play poker and blackjack, betting truth-or-dare turns. Well, I can't really put it in the story, because if I did, Piccolo wouldn't be around to talk to Chi-Chi about Jin.

* * *

"Jin's hostility only ran a few days. During that time, we successfully figured out every odd and end of the formula.  


"However, anxiety didn't have much time to lessen. It entered into early March, and we were, still on a stand still on what to do. Jin already gave her two-weeks notice to Nama, and I subsequently, turned in mine. It didn't take long for word to leak that we were leaving, and soon our sights and phone was bombarded with 'aquaintances', mainly from Uwaki and Shuran, of course. Most of it was a skittering topic of a 'Farewell Party', whenever it wasn't some sort of allusion on Jin and I getting married or of the like.  
"Jin and I refused to have any part in organizing the party, so they immediately took this notion as to plan it as a surprise (as surprising as it could be, I suppose). It didn't bother me... until I overheard Uwaki and Shuran scheming together on how to get a hold of those date-rape drugs, which made me reconsider the idea of just killing the kid and not the whole underground trafficking administration.  
"Mari interrupted me as I was fixing an Undercurrent. 'Dorai-san?'  
"'What's the drink, Mari?'  
"'I want to talk to you, Dorai-san.'  
"'Oh,' I pushed the drink to the one who ordered it. 'What is it?'  
"'It's about the party. Well, really its about you and Jin.'  
"I started cleaning my mixer with the towel. 'OK. What?'  
"She stayed silent for a long time, looking at the floor. When I was about to ask her again when she blurted, 'How far have you two gone?'  
"I would have fallen to the ground if the bar wasn't in front of me. 'What's that supposed to mean?'  
"'Well, you obviously love each other. You're perfect together. And everyone else is getting kind of anxious around you two, since all the guys like Jin and all the...' She paused and blushed, then turn her whole body from me in shame. '-And all the girls like you.'  
"I kept an inquisitive expression, my mouth somewhat ajar. 'Well, Jin and I haven't done anything, really.'  
"'N-nothing?' She rotated back to her original position in a rush. 'Not even kissed?'  
"'Kissed?' I delayed. 'Not really... unless I count that night a few weeks ago...' My short recollection of the event burst as soon as the last word came out and I smacked myself.  
"'Why don't you two just go ahead and tie the knot, then?' Mari advanced, 'If I were her, I wouldn't reject you, no matter what!' When she realised what she just said betrayed her own feelings, she gasped and retreated again."  
  
Chi-Chi giggled. "Did you have any feelings for Mari?"  
"She was agreeable. If anything, she was a good acquaintance."  
For some reason, this only amused her more. "You're a one woman man, huh?"  
  
I rolled my eyes. "To forge on, Uwaki's appearance followed Mari's leave. 'So...' She looked around, as if her next words could blow some deep secret of hers. 'Have you and Jin slept together yet?'  
"I didn't really know what she meant for a second. 'Yes...' Then it hit me. 'I mean no! No!'  
"'You two have slept together?!' She blared out.  
"'No!'  
"She started pouting. 'And I thought my Dorai would never be unfaithful to me!'  
"'Now what nonsense are you spouting, you insane trollop?!'  
"'How could you have sex with a girl like her when you have me by your side?'  
"I pulled a glass back, as if threatening to beam her with it. 'If you were always at my side, I'd have a layer of excess make-up on my pocket and a perfume-drenched shoulder!'  
"'And you don't because you're fooling around with a lady bartender!'  
"'You're saying that like it would be better with a cocktail waitress?!'  
"'So you are banging together?!'  
"How many stupid metaphors do you Humans have for sexual intercourse, anyway? The rest of my shift, I argued with Uwaki on the misconception, which spurred a similar one between Shuran and Jin after she came in.  
  
"The phone rang almost immediately after Jin left for work. I grabbed it, not looking away from the television. 'Moshi moshi?'  
"'You're getting more friendly, Daimaou-sama?' said an old voice.  
"I growled. 'If it isn't Youba...I've been meaning to talk to you about your defective ring!'  
"'Yes, yes... It shorted out a month or so ago, didn't it?'  
"'So if you know that, chances are you know why.'  
"'To be quite frank, I turned it off. I forgot that your ring was the kind that still run on the generator, and I shut it down. Hehe, gomen.'  
"I cringed. 'I was in a public place, too. What do you want? I'm sure this isn't just for an apology.'  
"'Indeed! This has to do with your little bed bloss--'  
"'Can you refrain from the innuendo please?! Really, don't you know how fucking disturbing it is coming from an old crone like you?!'  
"A dry chuckle rose through the receiver. 'Well, this has to do with Miss Jin Uotsuka. She's leaving soon, isn't she?'  
"'She is...'  
"'What do you think are your chances of seeing her again?'  
"'Slim to none.'  
"'Does it bother you? You don't have to answer. You wouldn't answer in earnest anyway. It bothers you immensely, doesn't it? But, you feel it a necessity, correct?'  
"I paused, not allowing myself to slip out of indifference. 'I do.'  
"'You feel it necessary as you fear she would run upon seeing you're true self.'  
"'Somewhat.' It had some to do with her admiration of your husband over Ma Jr. in the tournament.  
"'You know about her family's ways? I'm sure your father has told you, somehow. His soul was being very snoopy for a few months.'  
"'Yeah... Yeah, I know about them.'  
"'And-- you know that she is stronger?'  
"'Yes.'  
"'You can make that not the case.'  
  
"I ditched work that day, along with the Human garb. I left North Capital and headed for a tower in a deep wood. I ignored it, going past the top, towards the large, floating hemisphere above. I let my feet drop to the flat surface, an awaiting ancient with a moss hide before me with his staff tapping on the ground.  
"I gnarled at the figure. 'I have business with you, Kami-sama.'"

* * *

Hmm... a little short. Well, not to give out on you guys, a scene (I suppose you could call it that) from the poker truth-or-dare:  
  
Jin: Heh. My win. I'll have to give you a good one this time.  
  
Dorai: -cuts deck and reveals a red card- Looks like it has to be truth.  
  
Jin: Hmm....  
  
Dorai: -smirks and thinks: I'm sure there's nothing she could think of that could be that bad for a truth.-  
  
Jin: If you had to, not even death an option, would you rather have a date with Uwaki---  
  
Dorai: -thinks: An easy one.-  
  
Jin: --or Shuran?  
  
Dorai: -eyes go wide and start twitching-....You're cruel. 


	22. One Phone Call to God Coming Up

Disclaimer: Well, I've been saying that it's in chapter one so long... I'm not even sure if it's true anymore. Why don't you check to see?  
  
It's difficult to write something that's almost entirely being narrated by a character. Sometimes it gets confusing on who's talking, both in reading and in writing. So here's a little propisition: I have yet (to my knowledge) messed up on the punctuation. The punctuation is a guide to who's talking; Use it. (You know, I've never played FF7 all the way through. I personally thought Jiinzu's plan was more like the butterfly dust in "Bremen"... or maybe even something from "Serial Experiments Lain".) Btw...You know that a "Phone Call to God" is a kind of drink, right?

* * *

"Kami-Sama didn't move from his position easily. He seemed to be in a moment of private joy. It was quite obvious to me that he knew what I was there for; He must have be watching me whenever he could. He remained silent for a length of time before sounding, 'So what business can the Devil have with God?'  
"My eyes narrowed at the confidence in his demeanor. 'I need to become stronger.'  
"A dry chuckle came from the ancient throat. 'But didn't your power surpass my own long ago? Aren't you too strong to need any sort of help from a senile man like me?'  
"'Spare me you're idiotic spouting. You know why I need to become stronger.'  
"'Ah, yes,' he bent his head a bit in an acknowledging gesture, 'You're girlfriend only likes strong men, correct?' He strode forward a bit. 'That woman's left quite an impression on you, if you want to give up everything for the chance to be with her.'  
"I didn't like that he knew this, but I liked it even less that he had to remind me of it. 'Giving up everything isn't what I've come here for. With greater strength and a strong--'I had to stop a moment when I realised what I was about to say. '--a strong queen by my side, I can rule the world. Easily.'  
"'And you're certain that you'll retain that desire?' As he spoke this, that fat gardener had stepped out, took one look at me, then ran back inside. 'Are you that certain that you want to merge with me and gain the power that was once had as a whole being?'  
"'Will it make me stronger than she is?'  
"'Almost definitely.'  
"I remained quiet before I continued the dialogue in a hasty manner. 'You watch us quite often, I suspect. Tell me; Am I doing this for unrequited love?' I almost spat out the last two words, finding it to be the last subject I'd ever want to discuss with the likes of him.  
"'I would certainly suspect not. She seems to have great admiration towards you, Piccolo Daimaou.' He turned and went back towards the temple. 'However, I cannot guarantee that it would stay that way. Shall I invite you in for a glass of water or something of the sort?'  
  
"He seemed to just be ignoring me, now. In stead of being overjoyed at the idea of us merging into one, he seemed to be avoiding it with a slight disregard of what would come from it.  
"'I don't care what happens. I have to do something before she leaves.'  
"He stayed sitting, not answering for a long period. After taking a drink from his glass, he said, 'And you're so certain that this is the answer?'  
"'You should be practically in ecstasy over my offer. Why are you hesitating?!'  
"'Several reasons. For one: If we go through with the merging process, the Dragonballs would cease to exist.'  
"'Do you think that I care about that?'  
"'It's not only that,' he took another gulp of his water, 'You realise how much you two have in common, correct?'  
"'I've been reminded of that practically every day that I've known her.'  
"'If she came back to the apartment, suddenly acting different, acting more like how I would act, would you still love her?'  
"I grimaced. 'That's a disgusting question.'  
"And that aside, Piccolo, think of this: Merging between two normal Namekku-sei-jin can be reversible for a certain length of time. However, between us, because our halved spirits would rejoin, we could not.'  
"I was aware of this, but I was ignoring that fact. Now, it was irrefutable that I could not choose that path, but I had no other option, it seemed. I knew, somehow, that I may never see her again if she left. Somehow, she would always be outside my grasp. 'Then do something about it. At least keep her from leaving!'  
"'How could I go about to doing that?'  
"'You're Kami-sama! You figure it out!'  
"'No matter what I do, what good would it serve? I've found out more about her then you have, Piccolo. You may find it odd that I don't know precisely why her tradition demands her mate to be stronger than she, but I do know that if you two did decide to belong to each other, you could never see each other again after you two would have sex for the first time together. She would leave almost willingly.'  
"I stood in dead air before I started to shake my head. 'You're doing this out of spite. Kami-sama has, indeed, cursed me! Why not?! I would kill him if I could!' I rushed and grabbed his collar. 'I could! I should! Do I have a reason not to?'  
"He blinked in surprise. 'You're that willing to die over something like this? No matter what you do, Piccolo, no matter what you sacrifice, you cannot have her.'  
"'Shut up!' I threw him at the wall. 'What the Hell would you know?! You stand up here all day, looking at the world, trying to be an omniscient being, when you're nothing but incompetent and weak!'  
"Then I found myself perplexed as he began to simper as he rose from the ground. 'You may think that I'm just trying to make you miserable, but, really, I am rather content just watching you two together.' He used his staff to stabilize himself. 'Truly, I was almost delirious with happiness to see how much you two cared for each other. Though I couldn't see you transmit too much warmth to those outside of one another, I was certain that just the affection you shared would be enough to keep you from plunging Earth entirely into Hell if you had the chance.'  
"'Foolish! She is as capable as I am in destruction. If we were together, we'd massacre the masses until we were either bored of it or had nothing left to kill!' I growled again. 'That's why you don't want to comply. If we were together, you know that we'd do that without remorse, without missing a second to do so. I'm sure she would ring Son Goku's neck if I asked her to.' As soon as I said this, my mind slapped me back. Something told me that, although she may kill the masses, from how she watched the tournament videos, that would be one step that she would not take with that malicious grin of hers."  
  
"You never really explained to me what that's all about," Chi-Chi said.  
"And I have no intention to do so. It's not that important."  
"But--"  
"I'm telling you the damn story! If you're not content with just that, I'll stop now and leave."  
"No! I'm curious about what happened next! And what happened with Jin! And Jiinzu Kaaki! And--"  
"All right! Just stop interrupting!"  
  
"Kami-sama laughed again. 'Piccolo, this may not be much of a comfort, since, no matter what you do now, indeed, no matter what I do, you'll lose her, but I am certain that she holds as much love for you as you for her.'  
"'Are you trying to console me, now?'  
"'Well, you seem to need it.'  
"'Not as much as you need to have your larynx ripped out.'  
"'And what would that solve?'  
"'The quandary on how to save my ears of your dribble without ending my own life.'  
"He dusted some of the dust he accumulated on his tunic from being slammed into the wall. 'You're using reason now, it seems. You can be very bellicose whenever you cease to use logic. Not to say that you're any less surly when you're calm of mind, of course.'  
"'I'm sturdy enough now to see that you're entirely useless to me.' I went for the exit.  
"He followed me. 'Piccolo, didn't you wish to have help with something?'  
"'Conscerning what you know nothing about. The first Piccolo, even though he didn't have a floating palace that allowed him an all-knowing eye, even though he was sealed in a rice cooker for thousands of years, he knew a Hell of a lot more than you do.' I went to the ledge.  
"'That may be true,' he said after me, 'but I learned something from him: Even pure evil can be empathetic to one they love.'  
"I looked back at him a moment, scowled, then flew off, on my way back to North Capital."

* * *

There are a lot of Piccolo fangirls out there. But it's not really realised because it's hard for a group of them to conglomerate into some sort of club. You know why? Well, check out the reviews I get for my Piccolo poem. Those are the closest things I've gotten to flames. It makes perfect sence. Think about what kind of woman would like a guy like Piccolo romantically. Would you really want a room full of us ingrates, able to plan and scheme for domination and evil deeds? Earth's only hope would be if Piccolo walked in and we all ended up fighting to the death over him! 


	23. Kiss of Dark Rum

Disclaimer: This might bring great shock to you, but it's not here. It's in chapter one. But it applies here, too. Funny, huh?  
  
Another thing about writing someone else narrating aloud is how awkward their speech might be. Normally, when people narrate, they say stuff in the manner of, "and she was like," or they repeat something several times, incase they didn't hear it the first time. Luckily, with Piccolo, I can still write like it was a book, since I can't really imagine him doing normal narration habits like that.

* * *

"When I came back to the apartment, I cursed myself on why I should have questioned Kami-sama more about Jin, since he obviously knew a lot from his station. However, I couldn't stand his mindless jabber anymore, so I took my time separating his words, trying to figure out anything that could help me at least know more about her.  
"First thing that came to mind was his comment of if 'she came back to the apartment acting more like how I would act'. I shivered involuntarily. No matter how I could take that phrase, it was still a disgusting thought. I felt awkward enough with him talking about her, let alone having her come in with that attitude.  
"'You could never see each other again after you two would have sex for the first time together. She would leave almost willingly.' That's what came to mind next. Normally, I would think (or at least hope) that he would avoid such a subject unless it was really important. I couldn't imagine any kind of tradition, even if it was forced down her throat since before she could remember, being held by her towards such an extent that she would run from me because of it. I would suspect that she would rebel against almost any tradition shoved towards her. But I wasn't sure if he was hinting at whether she would've run at the site of what I've been keeping from her, or if she was truly afraid of something else.  
"About that moment, Jin came in with a vile of grey-blue liquid in her hand. 'I'm back from the lab. Here's the counteractive to the drug.' She tossed it to me.  
"I turned it around in my fingers a bit, watching the milky substance swirl. 'What do we do with it?'  
"'No idea, unless one of us gets infected by that stuff, then we use it as an antidote, I suppose.'  
"'Orally?'  
"'I would hope. I don't have syringes, nor do really want a fluid suppository.'  
"'I don't think there's such a thing.'  
"'Let's hope I didn't just invent it, then.' She left into the kitchen.  
"I placed the vile on the end table beside the couch. 'Jin, may I ask you a personal question?'  
"'Huh? Sure.' I heard the refrigerator open.  
"'What would you do if you had a child that was inferior?'  
"'You mean, if I birthed one? Inferior how?'  
"'Just lesser than you. Not strong. What would you do?'  
"'Where'd you get this weird question, anyway?'  
"'Odd things pass by my mind if I have nothing else to do, I guess.'  
"'I think you've been eating the old leftovers again...and I think you know where I got that idea.' I heard her huff and the refrigerator door slam close. 'Should we bother cleaning it before we leave?'  
"'No. But seriously. Answer.'  
"A cabinet door opened. 'I don't know. I'd probably raise the kid. Why? Do you suspect that I would disown it?'  
"'Not really. What would your parents do?'  
"'I think my parents would just be happy that I had a kid.'  
"'And... what would you say to the father about it?'  
"The rustling in the foodstuffs stopped. 'What are you getting at, Dorai?'  
"'Nothing.'  
"'Dorai, this isn't a normal conversation. I hardly think that "nothing" is the motivation here.'  
"'Answer my question, and I'll tell you what I'm getting at.'  
"Almost a minute of silence passed before I heard her rummaging through the cupboard again. She came out and sat beside me with a half- peeled orange and bit into it. After swallowing, she said, 'I think I'd tease the father about it, since it obviously didn't come from my side of the family. Otherwise, nothing more.'  
"'Is that so?'  
"'Yeah. Now what is this all about, Dorai?' She reached over and turned on the radio, messing with the dials to find something decent to listen to.  
"I was about to give an answer before she settled on a station with 'Almost Human' playing, perhaps the last song I'd want to hear at the moment, even if I normally enjoyed it. 'First turn that thing off.'  
"'Huh? Why?'  
"'I don't want to listen to that right now.'  
"'Nonsense. It's one of your favorite songs.'  
"'I'm just not in the mood to listen to it.' To be truthful, it struck pretty close to home at the moment.  
"'By the discovery of fermentation, you're pretty down. We should be living it up right now! After all...' Her own face looked sad for a moment, but she quickly replaced it with a grin. 'Today's March 16th.'  
"'M-March 16th?!' I stood quickly and almost sprinted to the calender on the wall. 'So tomorrow's--'  
"'St. Patrick's Day. We've been wasting a lot of time, Dorai,' She reclined on the sofa. 'But, at least, we get to make a pretty good massacre to end the day with tomorrow, sou da ne?' She took another bite from the orange. 'So. What were those questions about?'  
"'Jin,' I walked back and sat beside her side. 'Do you ever think that you'd consider marrying a man who wasn't prophisied, even if he was inferior in strength to you?'  
"She seemed to not be allowing the question to sink in, but she answered, sternly, 'No.'  
"'Why?'  
"'Stuff like prophecy is one thing that I can ignore, but,' Her eyes gazed at me in a serious manner, 'In my family, a warrior woman is forbidden from marrying a lesser for a reason past tradition.'  
"'Is that so?'  
"She nodded. 'I cannot tell you the reason, though.'  
"'Why not?'  
"'Just drop it there, Dorai. I know what you mean by this. We both know that I'm stronger than you, and even I wasn't, I still must leave after tomorrow.'  
"'Jin...'  
"'Enough of this. Like I said, we should be preparing for a party! Even if we might not enjoy the celebration that the guys at the "Red Stave Pub" are planning,' Her vicious smirk reappeared. 'We have another little affair already planned and set, even if we weren't officially invited.'  
"'All right. Fine.' I lounged beside her. 'So, until the cheers begin, how do you suggest we keep jubilation? Really, what do we do to destract ourselves from the downcast reminder that we're practically upon the threshold of separation?'  
"I felt her turn upon her side and lay her arm across my chest. 'Don't take this the wrong way, Dorai, but the way you're speaking really bothers me. Somehow, something in me really wants to at least take you with me. It's an impossible notion, as my logic tells me. So, Dorai, let's just accept it as an absolute, like death, and celebrate its coming. Do you really want our last moments together to be bathetic? Here, turn your head a bit.' I did so, and found that my lips met with hers."  
  
"Kyaa!" Chi-Chi squealed in delight. "So you two finally had a real kiss?"  
  
Where the Hell's a blunt object when you need one? I thought. "Yes. We did. Save you're questions; Yes it was a french kiss. And yes, it was a lasting kiss. Forging ahead...  
"'Normally we don't actually have contradictory opinions about something,' I said, smiling, after the kiss broke.  
"'Still haven't, really. I've just been mourning our separation longer, since I had definite reminders that it was going to happen. But, it's nothing to worry about, really. Even if we never see each other again, maybe we'll meet after the next absolute.' She laughed. 'I'll be waiting for you in Hell.'  
"'Indeed, I doubt your life would expire first.'  
"'Is that so? I'd ask if you're willing to bet, but it seems that the winner would get a rather useless prize. In stead--' She pulled the wallet out of my side pocket and jumped up, running towards the door. 'I'll take this! Normally, I doubt you'd care much, but I think I'll give this to Uwaki and tell her that its your present to her!'  
"I growled and lunged for her. 'Don't you dare! Give that back, wench!'  
"'Or what? You can't threaten me with Shuran. You have no idea where he lives!' She sped out.  
"I went after her. 'Damnit! You call being abhorrent celebration?!'  
"As I went down the hall, the last thing Kami-sama said to me went through my mind. 'Even pure evil can be empathetic to one they love.' Yeah, I thought, Empathetic. Pathetic with another couple of letters stamped onto it. Unfortunately, that's very descriptive of my position.

* * *

Another Voltaire reference (in fact, maybe two of them). Anyway, like Jin's swearing? "By the discovery of fermentation". Now that's something for those two to swear by! Anyway, look at me, typing this thing out when it's almost 4 am on a school night. Ah well. I doubt I'll be doing anything in class anyway. Maybe I'll bring a pillow to school... 


	24. Green Ale and Bacchanalia

Disclaimer: Chapter one.  
  
Well, it seems this story is coming within eyeshot of the ending. Don't worry, it's not this chapter, and probably not the next. And even when it does end, I've got some sequals (and maybe a prequal) to work on. There's a sequal even all ready finished so you can have your fix (that's kind of awkward, huh?). Oh yeah, there's a lot of violence in this one. Is that a lime? I don't know what that means...

* * *

"I wasn't sure how, but I didn't find myself with much time to mourn until St. Patrick's Day came. When we entered the bar, the whole place was strung up with green streamers and 4-leaf-clover decorations. Even though it was barely afternoon, the place was packed. The other bartenders were working full shifts as well, since business was predicted to be so tremendous that day.  
"I felt Jin grab my arm and pull up to my ear. 'The party at Jailbait starts at midnight, so we'll slip out before then.' She whispered. I nodded and we went behind the bar, her elbow interlocking with mine. Really, this was her first sign of affection that she would show since that kiss the night before. It didn't take long for Uwaki and Shuran to begin complaining about it. But this time, in stead of getting into a huge argument with the usual flare of contradiction, we'd only pull each other closer, not giving much more than a laugh towards them, and turn away.  
"Nama refused to let us work much, even though all the bartenders had night-long shifts. If he thought we had been on task too long, he would insist that we take a break while he cover us. Time to time, he would pass us a drink during these intervals.  
"On our 5th break, which was awkwardly long, we were sitting in a booth off to the side. When we would usually talk idly until our turn came up again, we were enjoying almost one drink after another, singing and laughing, and having one another in a sort of loose embrace.  
"'Dorai,' Jin said after a moment of stillness between us, not looking up from her glass.  
"'Yes?'  
"'This glass is empty.'  
"I lifted a brow to her atypical tone. 'It is. You want another glass, Jin?'  
"'It's just... a reminder. The glass shouldn't ever run out tonight. It should remain full until we can't stand it anymore.' She lifted her head and turned her face to me. 'Do you know what I mean?'  
"Looking at her, I saw a rare smile depicted by her lips. That with her eyes, which seemed to glisten more than usual with a sort of heavy wet, gave a bittersweet expression. I felt a pull. 'That face doesn't match you, Jin.'  
"'Neither does yours. I see sympathy.' Her eyes shifted away. 'Or empathy. To tell you the truth, I never really saw the difference between the two.'  
"Kami-sama, you bastard, I thought. He was right this time. I pushed those thoughts aside, then leaned in and kissed her." Chi-Chi did another one of her schoolgirlish squeals, which I ignored. "It was extended, even seemed to be amaranthine.  
"'Umm...' A voice called, followed by a pair of light giggles. 'Do you two want another drink before your shift starts?' We broke the kiss and saw Mari and Taifu, looking at us with knowing airs.  
"Taifu sat beside us in the booth. 'I knew it! You two are going off together after you leave, aren't you?'  
"I must have been blushing violently. 'W-why are you here, anyway?'  
"'Nama told me! My goodness, I was right. You two make a lovely couple!'  
"'Y-you're misunderstanding something,' Jin shook her head. 'We really are going separate ways after tonight.'  
"'What? I don't believe that. You two should stay together! You're perfect! Why, even that kiss looked like something a great master would've painted!' Taifu exclaimed. Mari nodded in agreement, even though she was blushing, too.  
"Taifu ordered a drink as we explained some of our situation, telling her about how we've both got things to do that required us to leave, which seemed to satisfy her.  
"As she tried to hail Mari down again for another drink, Jin turned to me again. 'Dorai.'  
"'Hmm? Yes?'  
"'Why do you suppose St. Patrick's Day is only two days after the Ides of March?'  
"I blinked, then began laughing. 'To accommodate Calpurnia's depression?'  
"Mari came up. 'So, Taifu-san wants a Dream Weaver. Jin-san?'  
"Jin smirked. 'A Caesar.'  
"'Et tu Jin?' She smacked my shoulder for the bad joke. 'Make that two.'  
"'Hai!' Mari smiled and hopped to the bar.  
  
"Quarter after Eleven, it was safe to say that most, if not all, of the people there were intoxicated to great proportions. Jin and I snuck out with little trouble and made for Jailbait. When we entered, we were met immediately by smoke and lights. The place wasn't much better than the average underground punk club, but it was very popular. It was hard to keep together while going through the forest of shoulders and skinny teenage bodies, dancing to some blaring techno-music. She came close to my ear again. 'Do you have it?' She didn't whisper this, but no one else could hear past the beat anyway. I nodded and patted my right pocket.  
"We reached a wall away from the crowded dance floor and, out of a notion, kissed again before we began watching the people carefully, trying to find Jiinzu or his lackey. From our position, it was possible to see almost the whole area (I imagine that the only better place to watch would be in the dancing cages suspended from the ceiling). Time to time, Jin would look at her watch and tell me the current time. Half past, I caught sight of the little follower, scampering around with a bag of tablets, trying to dump them into the glasses and open bottles of peoples' drinks. Five till, Jin spotted Kaaki by one of the smoke machines and ran after him, motioning for me to go after the assistant that was running out to the ally.  
"The little cretin wasn't hard to catch. He was barely a meter from the door when I had him by his collar. 'Now,' I said pulling back my fist. 'I've got a little problem with you and your boss. You might not have realised this, but you're in the Devil's kingdom now.'  
"'J-Jiinzu-san said you'd be here,' he said weakly, 'but he thought that you wouldn't leave your girlfriend's side.'  
"'What?' I threw him hard against the wall. 'How did you--'  
"He gasped for the air that he lost from the force of the blow before he said anything more, 'Jiinzu-san saw the records of who died and you weren't in there. He figured that you and your girl would do something to him tonight, so he's made the dosage stronger and is setting the smoke machine up with noxious fumes.'  
"'Ammonium chloride, again?'  
"'N-no. Chlorine gas. He's putting enough in the machines to gas the neighborhood.'  
"'Chlorine gas?' I looked back at the door. Coming from inside, the mindless beats still sounded, but gargled with them were screams of pain and what reminded me of war cries. The drug, we knew, numbed pain to the point that it didn't exist. This would include the sensation of suffocation that the toxins gave.  
"I grabbed his neck before he could make a run for it again and dragged him back in with me. He kicked and screamed all the way, but it was drowned out by the the scene easily. People were already ripping each other apart, literally. People who didn't drink from the bar or accept the tablets were choking on the ground, floundering like fish out of water. The girls that were in the dancing cages were now strung up in pieces hanging from the bars. I tried to scream for Jin, but my breath was already drawing short.  
"Through one of the billows of smoke, I saw Jiinzu's frantic form appear, trying to escape something. He was immediately seized by someone with long, black hair, which I knew to be Jin. Before I could get her attention, however, her own shoulders were grabbed and she was pulled back into the oblique clouds. I tried, as well as one could in such a situation, to run towards her, for a moment unaware of the struggling man that I was pulling about.  
"'Please! Let me go! Let me go, man!' he was yelling as loud as he could.  
"'You want me to let you go? Fine!' I chucked him into a mass of drugged brawlers and saw him get torn apart through the corner of my eye as I scrambled ahead.  
"I entered into a white mass of air and was able to see more bodies, perhaps even more barbarically mutilated, littering the glittered floor. Through all the noise, I heard, or perhaps felt, something hit hard against the ground several times. I saw a whole body, that of a very large, muscular man, practically fly by me. I went towards the direction it came and soon could make out a mass of silhouettes. A break in the vapors allowed me to see the legs of the one in the center, who was straining to separate from the others. The familiar black pants that was the uniform of a bartender at our pub were torn and soaked with blood, and one of the high- heeled shoes were missing. 'Jin!' I choked out.  
"'The figure didn't take notice to me. However, I saw her shadow in the mist pull an arm from the sockets of one of her assaulters, then immediately use the limb to bludgeon the others. This allowed her to sprint away, apparently after Jiinzu. I followed, avoiding the mess of corpses around me."

* * *

Well, this chapter's another two-parter! And I made it bloody again. Now that's what Election Day's all about! And, once again, the humor didn't live long. Actually, I find it funny, but you know... 


	25. One Last Drink for the Road

Disclaimer: Oh, yeah, that... I think I left in Chapter One.  
  
(At the last moment, I decided to not make this a 2 parter chapter) You know, I'm not quite sure if I originally ment for this story to be this bloody at the end. Well, I was planning blood, but really, I was also planning for Piccolo and Jin to be going after a huge gang, thus a massacre, not just a couple of jackasses using chemical warfare. Now, anyway, lets watch that falling action in this story that I'm not quite sure if is a comedy or not anymore! And... I doubt it's PG-13 rather heavily now...

* * *

"When I reached the exit, I could finally get a clear view of Jin. Although I didn't see any wounds on her, some of her clothes looked soaked with blood and were torn in many places. She collapsed to her knees on the ground, coughing and gagging, trying desperately to breathe. I helped her stand and urged her to keep walking. Looking back at the gushing haze, pouring from the exits of the club, I knew that we had to get out of the area as quickly as we could. Since she could hardly move as it was, I picked her up into my arms and took to flight.  
"At first, she didn't even notice that we were floating. When she did, she didn't seem to really care that much. She only choked out the place that she was sure Jiinzu was going: an apartment where he was staying for the time being. I landed about half from it and she pushed herself off of me. "Standing by herself (though her legs still seemed unsteady), she turned to me. 'I'm fine to walk, now. I don't need any more assistance.'  
"'If you say so. However,' I started walking ahead of her. 'I will not allow you to do much of the fighting. I realize that it's probably going to be easy now, but you gave me quite a scare.' I glanced back at her for a moment, just recognizing that the rips in Jin's apparel weren't just the kind one would see in a fight, but not dissimilar to the kind I saw on the unfortunate female victims there. She saw the new apprehensiveness that rose from this, and she did not disagree with my suggestion.  
"Going in to the door, I ripped the door away and entered, suddenly greeted by the shots of a semi-automatic. Jiinzu was crouched against the wall, holding the gun before him with a shaky hand. As I came closer, he screamed, 'Bakemono! Bakemono! Stop! Stay away!' and ran into his bedroom.  
"'Futile,' I heard Jin say. She sat down on the couch in the now abandoned room. 'It's all yours, I guess. But, if you cut off his head, I want it.' When I gave her an quizzical look, she said, 'I keep a collection. You aren't surprised, are you?'  
"'Not really. But don't enter, even to look. All right?'  
"'Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Dorai-sama,' she mused, waving me away. I grinned and went into the dark room, shutting the door behind me. Only light from the window made anything within visible. Jiinzu was still screaming for me to stay away. 'I'll do anything, man! You can join me in the operation! You can have as much money and opium as you want, all the territory, too! You can have anything! I swear!'  
"'I started to laugh. 'You think you can offer me this territory? You don't seem to understand. This area is already mine, you just broke my rules by trying to claim it as your own slaughter grounds in the first place.'  
"'Are you one of the g-gang leaders?' he cried.  
"'Gang leader? Heh, you could say that.' With that, I allowed for my normal visage to be seen. The miscreant's last wail was cut short when I severed his throat in one quick motion.  
"I exited, in my Human cover again. I found myself confused, as Jin, faced towards the door, had her hands up in a surrendering fashion. She looked over at me in a wry, nervous smile. I didn't really understand until I looked before her. A large clot of police officers blocked the doorway.  
"'Well, today isn't the best of days, huh?' I said. I held up the disjoined head of the late Jiinzu Kaaki by the hair. 'For your collection, right?'  
"The cops looked at me with horrified expressions. Some of them pointed their barrels to me. 'Freeze! Y-you are under arrest for... uhh... f-for murder.' Several of these men looked like they really had enough gore for the night, judging by their queasy grimaces. 'Just give yourself up and e-everything will be fine!'  
"'I'd really rather not,' I said, then I threw the head to Jin. As soon as she caught it, I scooped her up into my arms and jumped out the window towards our own room.  
  
"We walked in together and I took out the vial from my pocket and tossed it in the air. Jin snatched it before it reached my hand, then uncorked it. 'Useless, eh?'  
"I nodded. 'Quite. Why did you bother making it?'  
"'To do this.' She drank half the contents and passed it to me. She sat down on the couch with a grin on her face. I sniffed at it, curious. 'What is this, really?'  
"'An aphrodisiac.'  
"'...You're kidding.'  
"'Yes, but something tells me that you wouldn't mind if it was.'  
"I rushed closer to her. 'Of course I would mind! The way things went, if one of us took this after consuming the drug in that place, could you imagine what might happen?'  
"'You're right. That would be bad. Well, go ahead and drink it. It was the counteractive to that drug, but, now that it's no longer a problem, it's rendered to being nothing more than a small beverage.'  
"I growled at her, but did as requested of me. 'Tastes pretty good, actually.'  
"'Yeah, I put flavoring in it.' She chuckled a bit then turned to me. 'This is our last night together, Dorai. What should we do?'  
"'I'm not interested in going out or watching anything,' I said, 'so I'm going to bed.' I went to change.  
"'I said we,' she continued, 'and I meant we.'"  
  
Chi-Chi held her hands in front of her mouth to keep her giggling from becoming audible. When she finally was able to control herself, she asked, "How far did you two get?"  
  
I chose not to dignify that with a direct answer and twisted a little more from her. "We slept together in the bed that night. I held her close to me, listening to her breathing carefully to make sure that she was all right. There was a slight raspyness in her exhale, like her trachea was scratched. I asked her a few times if she needed anything, but she would only shake her head.  
"When I felt that I could no longer take her being so quiet and still, I spoke up. 'Jin, perhaps we should have done something before going to bed. I can't sleep. Let's talk or... something.'  
"'I can't sleep either, Dorai, and I can't think of anything to talk about.'  
"'We could do something. Anything.'  
"'To take your mind off of it, right? It's pointless. The glass is empty. There's nothing left to do except look at the glass and recollect on how good the drink was.'  
"'I see what you mean.' I sighed and drew her closer to me. 'Jin.'  
"'Hmm?'  
"'It was a good drink, wasn't it?'  
"I saw her smile a little, then she leaned over more to me and kissed my cheek. 'We could lick off what's left of it from the glass.'  
"'You're kidding!'  
"'Yes, I am.'  
"We laughed and kissed each other. Then, she laid down her head onto my shoulder and her hand upon my chest. 'Do you suppose that we're getting away without paying?'  
"I thought on this for a moment, then encircled her waist and side more tightly with my arm. 'No. Personally, I had to work at the bar to make up what I couldn't pay on the tab.' I meant this quite literally.  
"'It was an expensive drink, wasn't it? Somehow... it's more comfortable now.' Her voice seemed to have become drowsy as she spoke. We kissed again and fell asleep.  
  
"When we had everything packed and ready to go (which wasn't much, really), we met with our co-workers just outside the city limits. We were in an area where there was never many people around; In fact, it was only us. Mari and Taifu were crying a little bit; Nama had his hands to his side, grinning in his usual manner; Shuran and Uwaki seemed to be torn between happiness of getting their titles of being the 'most attractive' in the bar, or distraught because they never had a chance with us.  
"'Come visit the pub whenever you can!' Nama called, 'I'll give you kids a discount.'  
"Jin laughed. 'I doubt I'll have the chance, but I'll keep it in mind.'  
"'Yeah,' I agreed, 'I can't make any promises either.'  
"'I still think that you two are making a mistake by not going together,' Taifu said, wiping tears subtly from her eyes. I could see Mari nodding in agreement from behind her handkerchief. 'Really, true love is hard to come by!'  
"I looked over to Jin again. She had that same brown suitcase by her legs, since she really didn't get too much else since she moved in with me, but adjacent from the suitcase was a large, somewhat tattered cloth bag that I had never seen before. I raised my brow when I noticed that it was somewhat discolored and damp-looking at the bottom. 'Jin, your bag is... leaking.'  
"She glanced down to see what I was talking about, then grinned. 'Oh yeah.' She picked it up and pulled the contents out. Once again, I saw the frightened eyes of Jiinzu Kaaki, dripping with blood. 'Your present for my collection. Remember?'  
"There was a still moment before I would cachinnate loudly. The others seemed to still be in a state of shock, though I think that I heard Taifu mutter to her brother, 'Is it a fake?'  
"She placed the head back in the bag and gathered the luggage in her other hand. 'Fare thee well, Dorai, or, at least, don't die a terrible death.'  
"'Same to you, Jin. I do hope we see each other again one day, though.' I held out my hand. She took it to shake, but then we realized that something seemed amiss and we retracted to look at our palms. Now we both had some of Kaaki's blood on our hands again and we laughed again.  
"Then we parted, our suitcases in one hand, waving back to each other with the bloody one. Along with my valedictions, something in me said, 'Farewell, my Daimajoou.'"  
  
When I realized that I told the whole story (and what my last line was) my face burned furiously. I had just told my whole encounter with the only woman that I ever fell in love with, and, furthermore, I told it to Chi-Chi.  
She seemed satisfied enough. "Wow. You really had a Romantic adventure, huh? Past the blood and all the drug and drinking stuff, it was really tender." She put her chin to her knees. "Do you still love her? Or do you miss her, at least?"  
"I haven't even thought about her for seven years, until Gohan reminded me. But now that I am thinking about her..." I stopped myself to keep from becoming any more sentimental.  
"Well, come on,' she said, standing up.  
"Huh? Come on where?"  
"To Kouseki Island! That's where you said she lived, isn't it?"

* * *

Whew! A long chapter. Don't think that it was the last! Bakemono - Monster. Man, you know how this story works: don't look at it for a while, you have 3 chapters to read when you check again. At least, that's how I suppose that it's working. (Also, I had to take a short break; I cannot afford the comedy to take too much more violence than already planned, and I just watched "Happy Tree Friends", which doesn't help.) 


	26. Epilogue: Closing Time

Disclaimer: For the last time (in this fanfic), it's in CHAPTER ONE!!!  
  
Well, this is it, folks. The last chapter of Green Valentine Daquiri. You've been a good bunch of fans; Really. My other fics are looking forward to the attention that they'll be getting, and my 2nd sequal (which I'm thinking about naming along the lines of The Mania of the Tearing Seams) will go underway. A little info for you: it's to take place at about the end of DBZ (so it will be in the DBZ section), it will be rather short, and it WONT be a Romance (I'm not even planning for Jin to make any sort of appearance o.o;;;).

* * *

"I can't believe that I'm doing this..." I said, sorting through my old, dusty suitcase. Chi-Chi and I were in my cave on the secluded, uncharted island that I used for training. I pulled out several papers, trying to find a picture of Jin among them, as Chi-Chi rummaged around for the ring and a set of, as she put it, "normal clothes".  
"We have to get something that's not out of date yet, but still would be something that she'd expect you to wear," she explained as she looked at one of the shirts. "Simple black slacks and this white shirt should do." She tossed it towards me. "Still haven't found your ring, though."  
I didn't answer; I just passed from one paper to another. Most of what I had from the experience wasn't much more than copies of the formulas for the drugs and counteractive, as well as a few newspaper snips concerning what happened at Loam Bistro and Jailbait and some stuff from the Red Stave Pub. Then, I came upon a group picture of everybody working at the bar together. I remembered when it was taken, about a week before we left. "This might work."  
"Hmm? You found a picture?" She crouched beside me and looked. "Which one's you?" When I pointed myself out, she gasped. "You've got to be kidding! That guy is..." She quickly looked back and forth between me and the picture. "I have to see what you look like with that ring on."  
"Yeah, whatever. That won't happen if you don't find it."  
"I will! But first, which one's Jin?" I pointed to the woman by my Human form, standing in the same fashion as I did, with her arms crossed. "Geez. She does look like she acts like you. And Uwaki is...?" I tapped the woman on the other side of me, clasped on my arm and posing in a sordid manner. Chi-Chi made a groan. "She looks a lot like Kuririn's old girlfriend, Marron."  
As I went to place the parchments back in the suitcase, the ring fell out and clanged on the stone ground. "No wonder it was so hard to find." I picked it up and pushed Chi-Chi out of the cave so that I could dress.  
  
Kouseki Island was a small to medium sized community, in the process of expanding. Most of the people on it seemed to have recently moved there within the past five years. That was the excuse that was given me whenever I asked if they knew the woman in the picture.  
One old man that I asked looked over the fence, adjusting his glasses as he gazed. "Sure seems familiar. Then again, she's so pretty, I might have seen her in one of my magazines..."  
I smacked him upside the head with the map of the island Chi-Chi insisted on getting and walked away. "I don't see why I'm doing this. It's been seven years!"  
"Hey, come on!" Chi-Chi came in, "It's Valentine's Day. You should feel obligated to see her again, at least once."  
"Mister," I heard a small voice call from behind me, accompanied by a tugging at my pantsleg. I turned to see a little girl, about five or six years old, looking up at me. "I think I know who that lady is."  
"Do you?" I held the photo down a little lower so that she would have a better look. She gazed at it for a moment, and nodded energetically with her face beaming. "Yup! That's my mommy!"  
"Your..." I managed a smile with some effort. "Your mother, huh?"  
She giggled. "Hey! Come with me and meet daddy!" With this, she began to run a little ahead. "Come on!"  
"I don't know if that's..." It took quite a bit of willpower to not crush the picture and the map in my hands.  
Chi-Chi's hand fell on my shoulder. "You should, you know."  
  
The little girl took us to a bar, which didn't surprise me at the least. "Daddy!" She yelled as she ran back through a door that was obviously the manager's office. I sat on a stool and leaned against the counter, feeling week.  
"That girl does look a bit like her," she said, looking at the photograph. "Black hair; Pale skin."  
My mind wandered as we waited. I remembered something that disproved something I said to Chi-Chi earlier. I figured that I forgot it because I was about to die, but I did think of Jin once in the past seven years. As I was looking up at the sky, dying, with Gohan and his own pouting at my side, above him I thought I saw Jin crying. But I wasn't really sure if it was her, since I didn't really see her as much as I felt her. Almost certainly, though, I saw her tears drop, but vanish before they reached my face.  
The cheerful laugh of the girl came again, followed by a man's voice. "OK, OK, Hina-chan! Who is it that you want me to see?"  
She led him to us. "This man and lady are looking for Mommy."  
He blinked. "Mommy?" Then he looked at the picture. "Oh! You mean Uotsuka-san!" He laughed himself and looked at us. "She's not really Uotsuka-san's daughter; She's an orphan. Her real parents died before she could remember and I took custody of her. But, one day, she saw a picture of Uotsuka-san and referred to her as 'Mommy' ever since."  
I gave a sigh of relief, and Chi-Chi snickered.  
"She's really pretty, though!" The girl hopped up onto the stool. "And she has black hair and pale skin like me! Daddy, do you think that I'll be pretty like that when I grow up?"  
"I'm sure you will, Hina-chan," He laughed and looked at us. "So, you're looking for her? I'm sorry if you came a long way just to find her, because she hasn't been here for quite a few year now..." He looked up in thought a moment. "Seven years, I think. Really, she only stayed a month or two while she worked on something the local machine shop. Not sure what."  
"I see." I lowered my head a bit. "Do you have any idea where she went?"  
"Well, I'd like to say that she left Kouseki to live somewhere else, but I don't know. If you talk to anyone that was around at the time, you'll know that about eight or more years ago, there was a great flash and a tremor, and the shrine on the mountain was destroyed. All the demons, said to be sealed in the mountain, broke loose and started to cause mayhem. It was gettin' to be a real problem; People were even dying. But then Uotsuka- san just went into the woods of the mountains one day and the haunting stopped."  
I raised a brow. "That's fascinating, but what does it have to do with where she might be?"  
"That's just it. That was the last anyone ever saw of her. The woods are still haunted, so no one went in for a search party. We don't know what happened to her. Some people think that she sacrificed herself to keep the demons from coming into town again." He looked at the picture again. "Hey! You're that guy she was always talking about! Dorai Berumotto, isn't it?"  
"Y-yeah. She talked about me?"  
He nodded. "Almost every night. When she came here, she had that same picture out and looked at it. Whenever she started doing that, she'd say, 'Give me a doubleshot of Dry Vermouth; A shot for both me and my companion of the same name.' Then she'd start talking about how you two had so much in common, that you'd start talking in unison out of the blue, and stuff like that. I asked her a few times if she loved you."  
"And what'd she say?" I said in an almost hasty manner.  
"'Probably.'"  
  
The map, though showing a mark that represented the temple, didn't outline any definite path to it through the woods. Even so, I went ahead, threading through the trees. Chi-Chi became anxious at my decision to take a look on what happened to Jin.  
"What're you worried about? You're the one that suggested I come here in the first place." I called back at her. I had taken my ring off, seeing as it was pointless to look Human in a place that had no one in it.  
"That's easy for you to say! You can just kill any demon that comes up! And even if you can't, you could probably get them to bow down before you!"  
"What was that?" A voice came from inside a tree. Suddenly, we were surrounded by various youkai and mononoke. Sounds of their energies passing, or oni growling, or chains clanking circled us.  
The muttering voices and gnashing teeth died down when a tall but bent creature came forward. It had long, thin hair and a skull-like face. It's body was thin and frail looking, and it was almost completely white and gray. When its eyes seemed to have focused on me, it kneeled to the ground. "Greetings, Daimaou-sama."  
It appears that Chi-Chi was right. "Who are you?"  
"Sukeruton. I am the doyen of the Kouseki forces, and a loyal servant to your father. May I ask to what service you would wish of me?"  
"I'm looking for a Human woman named Jin Uotsuka."  
There was a lot of commotion among the group as soon as I muttered the name. Sukeruton raised a hand, and the noise ceased. "I was bid, by her own mouth, not to reveal much about her. However, your father wanted me to tell you his own plot. You see, he went to check on your progress, and noticed an influx of energy here. At that time, she crashed into the mountain and destroyed the temple that kept us locked away. We, in turn, would tend to her wounds. Your father thought that she was a superb candidate to be your queen, and designed to have you meet." He stopped abruptly when he noticed my rising ire.  
"Lovely to see that Father has such great interest in my love life," I grumbled sarcastically, "Am I to assume that you tended to her also as she was much stronger than you?"  
He looked to either side anxiously. "I suppose so. Yeah, you could say that. It was quite definite to us that she was superior."  
"So, where is she now?"  
"Well, she fixed her ship... and left to go home," he said, as plain as possible.  
"And her home is...?"  
"I was told not to say anything that could reveal that she wasn't Human--- FUCK!!" Slapping his own head, he retired to his rest, refusing to answer any more questions.  
A long-necked mononoke in a kimono came to us after he left. "Our leader is just a little overexcited. She crashed here in her space ship, and we immediately saw from her appearance that she was to be a demon queen. We had to detour her until Youba made a new ring that had more complex texture rendering, since the crash left her with a great wound that had a good chance of being seen."  
"She actually wasn't Human?" I looked up to the sky, watching the few clouds that could be seen through the tree branches redden with the sunset.  
"We cannot answer any more questions," she said, and with that, all the demons turned away and vanished.  
  
I dropped Chi-Chi back off at her house and went back to my own cave on my island. I locked away all the garments and memories in the case again and sprawled out on my mediocre bed of animal skins and straw. Having nothing to look at but the cave ceiling above me, my mind wandered to Jin again. So, she was an alien, and a demon to boot.Of course it figured. Hell, I suspected it enough.  
The next day, I trained harder and longer than usual, not letting the two Saiya-jin take any unnecessary breaks. Perhaps its the old "carrot on a stick" (or "bottle on a string", in this case), but working is always easier when theres a reward in front of you, even if it seems like you can never reach it.

* * *

Well, it's been fun, guys. I gained some fans and some skills along the way, and you people found something to tickle your Romance fancies without going Mary Sue (sorry, but I find most yaoi sappy and OOC) or into the uninspired trash that wafts around some of these fanfic sites (ie, generic make-out scenes of AnimeHeroY and AnimeHeroineX). If you've been saving up, you can read the Interpretations now (though I highly suggest hearing the songs in them beforehand). Funny. As I finished this, I finished high school! -cheering- I gots me some cord and tassle action for me cap n' gown! 


End file.
